The Daily Caller reports that the Ector County (Texas) Independent School District’s (ECISD) Board of Trustees has vowed to “oppose the development of voucher programs or any action similar in name or nature.” This declaration comes less than two months after 91 percent of voters in the county approved a proposition that supports parents’ “right to select schools, whether public or private, for their children, and the funding should follow the student.” Given the position of the ECISD board, we must wonder who they are accountable to.
In defending its position, a district spokesman stated that private schools aren’t held to the same “Texas accountability standards.” While claiming that private schools aren’t accountable, ECISD makes it clear that it doesn’t want to be held accountable. They are flipping the bird at voters—those to whom they should be accountable. They seek to defy the desires of a huge majority of voters. Keep in mind that 91 percent approval is about as close to unanimous as an election can be outside of the rigged “elections” staged by dictators.
To be clear, the approval (or disapproval) of a democratic majority is not the proper standard by which we should judge policies like school vouchers. The proper standard is the degree to which the policy protects or violates individual rights. In enabling more freedom, school choice is a step towards greater protection of individual rights.
By an overwhelming majority, voters—the ones who pay for government schools and the associated bureaucracy—want school choice. Voters in Ector County want more freedom for parents and students. The school board doesn’t want “voucher programs or any action similar in name or nature” to enable that freedom.
The board’s blatant disregard for the desires of Ector County voters, many of whom are parents, is testimony to the fact that the board is not accountable to voters or parents. Who, then, are they accountable to?
Not surprisingly, the answer is: a nebulous group called “students.” Private schools, the board states, are not required to serve all students. Government schools are. However, the needs, desires, and interests of students are not monolithic. In an attempt to satisfy the group, individuals are necessarily subordinate to that group.
When the group serves as the standard, accountability is a sham. No matter what decisions the board makes, it can always claim that it is serving “students.” Somehow, we are to believe, the alleged well-being of the group is achieved by harming the individuals comprising that group. At the end of the day, the board doesn’t want to be accountable to anyone.