Chambana Sun

About 78 percent of parents support charter public schools launching in their neighborhood, according to a new study, and yet presidential candidate Joe Biden vows to close them all if he is elected, according to a post on Twitter.

“You look at the surveys and people want school choice,” said Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur). “They want the best they can get for their children and when they're stuck in substandard public schools, they want the opportunity to seek other options. It’s just one more reason not to vote for Joe Biden.”

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools found that 73 percent are in support of more charter schools opening nationwide but Biden said on MSNBC, "If I'm president, [Education Secretary] Betsy DeVos’ whole notion from charter schools to this are gone,” according to a May 24, 2020 tweet by Corey A. DeAngelis, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom and Director of School Choice at the Reason Foundation.

“I'm not sure how he would do that,” Caulkins told the Chambana Sun. “It would be a terrible mistake and will create a lot of turmoil.”

DeVos, has said charter schools are a solution to an education that is "a closed system, a closed industry, a closed market,” according to media reports.

“Biden's position is most likely driven by the teachers' unions and not the parents or the students,” Caulkins said in an interview “That's the first group that we should be concerned about.” 

One of the reasons teacher’s unions reportedly oppose charter schools is because they create competition for the funding that public schools depend on, according to the Center for Education Reform. A charter school is exempt from the rules and regulations that public schools must stringently follow, which allows for a more flexible and autonomous education. However, charter schools are beholden to meeting the standards of the group or organization that founded it.

“The survey confirms to us the importance of all parents being able to choose the public school that best meets their children's needs,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “We are listening to parents and will continue to fight so that all families have the option to send their child to a high-quality public school.”

The study also found that one in 10 parents said charter schools were their first choice when given a choice, which indicates that some 2 million students would attend charter schools if their parents could enroll them. Some of the obstacles cited include distance, demand and lack of available seating.