If you or someone you know lives in California and has schoolchildren, ask them whether they would welcome receiving $17,000 per child each year to send their child(ren) to a private or religious school rather than to a failing neighborhood public school!
It could happen. The Children’s Educational Opportunity (CEO) Act is a proposed statewide ballot measure for November 2026 that is currently gathering the required voter signatures to qualify, but there are just a few days remaining before the March 31 deadline. Educator and former Thousand Oaks Mayor, Kevin McNamee, is the lead proponent for the 2026 statewide ballot initiative that puts the parents in charge of where their child attends school.
The CEO Act would amend the California Constitution to establish state-controlled Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) for every K–12 student, funded from existing Proposition 98 dollars that voters previously earmarked for education. Participation in the CEO Act is entirely optional. Each year, the state would deposit approximately $17,000 per student into a child’s ESA. Parents would then choose among all education options, including private schools, faith-based schools, and homeschooling.
Parents never handle the money directly. Once they select an eligible school, the ESA trust sends tuition payments straight to that institution, with any unused funds remaining in the account and earning interest. For example, if a kindergarten charges $7,000 per year, that amount flows from the ESA to the school, and the remaining $10,000 stays in the account to grow for future educational expenses. Unused ESA funds roll over annually, can be used after 12th grade for accredited trade schools, community colleges, universities, or postgraduate education, and, after age 18, may be transferred to a family member’s ESA or donated to an eligible school.
Crucially, the CEO Act is designed to be revenue-neutral. It does not raise taxes; instead, it reallocates existing Proposition 98 dollars so that funds follow the student rather than automatically flowing to government-operated schools. The overall fiscal commitment to education remains the same, but families gain direct agency over where their child’s share is spent, including but not limited to tuition, tutors, books, supplies, online classes, special needs, and transportation.
California Governor Gavin “Hair Gel” Newsom is one of the reasons many parents prefer their children to be educated outside the public school system. When “Hair Gel” is campaigning for president, he can share that California Assessment of Student Performance Progress (CAASPP) testing reveals that 43% of the Golden State’s public school 11th graders can’t read or read proficiently, and 70% can’t do basic math.
Unfortunately, the numbers are worse for California’s black and Hispanic public school 11th graders. Fifty-nine percent of black and 51 percent of Hispanic 11th graders can’t read or read proficiently, and 84 percent of black and 81 percent of Hispanic can’t do basic math.
You might wonder why this isn’t making headline news. For starters, this has been happening for years. Communist-leaning teachers’ unions are more interested in the woke LGBT+ agenda and planning pro-Hamas or anti-ICE protests.
Also, California’s Democrat political and educational leaders don’t seem to care if students graduate without knowing basic math or reading. They would rather boast about a meaningless 88 percent public school student graduation rate, even though students are often handed a useless diploma, while proud parents, unaware their child lacks basic skills, take photos for social media. (Indeed, during his Katie Couric interview, Newsom thought it was unfair that Mississippi students were doing better because the state abandoned social promotions.)
Then you know what happens to those ignorant graduates? They can’t find employment. In a tight labor market, no one wants to hire someone who can’t read, write, or do basic math. Needing to work, these illiterate graduates accept minimum wage, dead-end jobs that don’t pay enough to rent a rundown studio apartment in a crime-infested neighborhood. Their next step is seeking government handouts—one of the few areas where California excels.
According to McNamee:
Parents are being deceived. They do not find out that their child cannot read or do math until after graduation, when their child can’t complete a job application. The parents think their child is doing great in public school, getting A grades, yet do not find out the truth until after graduation. The answer is to return to what worked before. Return to a time when the parent was in charge of deciding where their child goes to school, and not being forced into a failing local public school. Return to a time when parents, not politicians or bureaucrats, were in charge of their child’s education regardless of race, family income, or zip code. It is time to get rid of the top-down education model driven by a few intellectual elites in Sacramento who dictate what is taught and how it is taught in our public schools. It is not working.
You might be surprised to learn that the highest literacy rate in the United States occurred during the 1800’s when the community hired the local schoolteacher who taught in a one-room schoolhouse where all children from 4 to 15 years of age were encouraged to learn. Children could read, write, do math, learn history and civics, and they enjoyed learning. It was a time when excellence was demanded, and students responded by meeting the high expectations of the teacher, parents, and community. Look at these sixth-grade tests from the 1890s.
This demand for excellence continued through the early 1900s. This is a test students had to pass in 1912. How many people today (even those with graduate degrees) could pass this exam?
According to McNamee, today’s public school is a 100-plus-year-old industrial education model that works for some but not most of today’s students.
Today’s public school is much like going to a shoe store selling only size 9 shoes. It works for some customers but not all. California public schools want to crank students through an assembly line education factory. Too many students are being left behind revealed by dismal standardized test scores.
But time is running out. March 31 is the deadline for signatures.
Even if you don’t live in California, you might know people who do. Visit EducationOpportunity.org to download, print, sign, and mail the petition to the CEO at the address at the bottom of the petition.
Gavin Newsom is often referred to as the U-Haul salesman of the year because his multiple failures have encouraged many residents to move to a red state. From having the nation’s largest homeless population to the nation’s highest taxes to the largest illegal alien population that abuses government programs, to students unable to do basic reading or math, California fails at many metrics. But with the CEO Act, we the people can do something to help students, so they graduate with the necessary basic skills to continue their education or find meaningful employment.
Californians can turn that failing “F” grade into an “A.”
Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter, and can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.