School choice urgently needed to preserve Silicon Valley’s competitive edge
Michael Alexander, the California School Choice Foundation president and Californians for School Choice chairman, spoke with Opp Now about why Silicon Valley innovation unequivocally necessitates parents’ right to choose K-12 schools.
Opportunity Now: Why is school choice relevant for the Silicon Valley?
Michael Alexander: I’m a lawyer by training, and I’m very familiar with Silicon Valley. Nobody needs an educated populace more than Silicon Valley, which cannot adequately perform without a labor force that is literate, familiar with math, and capable of learning more and being trained. On the latter characteristic—trainability—we see that whatever the United States spends on education, industry spends even more on employee training. So, if we start off better in the K-12 system, we set Silicon Valley companies up for success in innovation and performance.
And yet, this industry constantly and consistently has to import technical talent from other countries because of the decline of local STEM courses. Silicon Valley doesn’t produce enough of that talent locally because we aren’t offering students a solid K-12 foundation. If these students are behind other countries’ students, our competitive edge erodes.
Also, from a political perspective, it’s imperative that citizens can read and understand ideas. That’s why children shouldn’t be indoctrinated against their parents’ wills in political matters. And that’s why California schools need true diversity and competition of ideas. In particular, Silicon Valley needs an extraordinarily competitive 21st century labor pool. We need the best people we can get.
Standing alone, California is the 6th largest worldwide economy. It is now, always has been, and always will be the future of America, for better or for worse. That’s why we’re here to advocate for local school choice. California represents the future of our country. We must ensure that this future is the right one. We can’t build the America of tomorrow without everyone having access to quality education so that they can participate fully in our economy and government.
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This is part of an exclusive Opp Now series. Opp Now spoke with the CA School Choice Foundation president about the following education-centered topics:
The recent Maine Supreme Court decision
Why counterarguments of equity fall short in the school choice debate
The Silicon Valley’s competitive need for school choice
How widely wanted school choice policies are by CA’n voters
How school choice impacts local public schools
How the Educational Freedom Act could cultivate choice for local families in their children’s education
Image by peigov on Flickr