Do you have a child, or want a child someday? Are you going to try your best to put your child in the best school environment for them? Are you at all worried that your child could face discrimination due to their potential differences? According to the United States Government, they definitely could in some instances, especially through private and charter schools.
Under Federal law, it is unlawful to discriminate against any student that wants admission to a school as long as that school gets public funding. Many are aware of the "School Choice" program that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and President Trump are pushing to create competitions within schools and using vouchers to waive tuition for students who normally couldn't afford it.
However, private schools retain their right to discriminate against students, all the while getting public funding drained into their budgets. How? Well, private schools are given a pass with discrimination laws because of religious reasons, because of all-girls or all-boys schools, etc. These passes open up loopholes that are not so tightly shut by the Federal government that they are still abused today.
One private religious school reserves the right to discriminate against students of the LGBTQ+ community in its admission brochure. They seem proud of the fact as well. And yet, they still get funding through the voucher program.
"This year, [they've] received over $665,000 in state funds to enroll 152 students."
Disgusting.
It doesn't just stop here. The ACLU of Maryland outlined in a report multiple instances of discrimination in private schools that got Federal funding, one of which a Vietnamese girl was bullied so badly because of her race that her family had to pull her out of the school. All the while, administration did absolutely nothing about the situation.
Another instance occurred when a girl expressed homosexual thoughts to her school staff. They sent her home for a few days to "reevaluate her sexuality," and when she returned with the same opinions, they expelled her.
There are many, many more instances of this kind of discrimination happening all over the United States. Schools will turn away kids with disabilities just for the amount of money it will take to accommodate them, just like this charter school in LA that turned away a child for only a learning disability.
Not only that, but the LAUSD allots much less money per student in charter schools for disability accommodation than public schools (ratio: charters $1,291 per student vs. public $9,888 per student). 1.2 percent of disabled students attend charters compared to 3.8 percent attending public schools, creating a massive gap, which isn't right or fair to our students.
Where does the madness stop? These are children, all they want is an education and they are being absolutely berated for being different, for things that they cannot control and should not have to change about themselves.
Talk to your representatives. Get something moving. We can't let this kind of discrimination against our nation's future go on. We need to outline Federal policy that doesn't allow this type of thing to happen to children. This must stop, and it must stop now.
