Kiley Calls Out Newsom For Sending His Kids To In-Person Private School During COVID-19 Lockdowns

2 days ago

At a House Education Committee hearing last week, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) called for positive disruption to the public school system.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Well, I have not heard anything about many of the items that you mentioned, but you used

00:04the word disrupt, and I do agree that our public education system is in need of disruption.

00:12We have seen our results fail our kids for too long, and they've gotten worse and worse

00:18and worse year after year, even though we're spending more and more money.

00:24But the good news is that we see examples throughout the country where this sort of

00:29positive disruption is occurring in a way that lifts up all students and has gotten

00:34amazing results for students.

00:35We've seen some good examples in D.C.

00:37We saw it in New Orleans after Katrina, where they became an all-charter network.

00:41Florida was mentioned from one of the representatives from Florida as somehow a bad example.

00:45Florida leads the nation in education outcomes.

00:47It usually ranks first or close to it.

00:50On the other hand, my state, California, which has done everything possible to restrict school

00:55choice, ranks among the worst in the country.

00:58Even though it spends a lot and has added tens of billions of dollars to the education

01:03budget.

01:04In fact, in 2019, California was second worst in the entire country for education outcomes

01:09for kids on free or reduced lunch.

01:11And then, of course, during COVID, as I mentioned before, California had the longest school

01:16shutdown of any state in the entire country, although not everyone was kept out of school.

01:21For example, Gavin Newsom, the governor who ordered the school shutdown, he sent his kids

01:26to in-person private school during that time.

01:29And I think that just underlines a theme that comes out of today's hearing, is that we already

01:35have a universal school of choice in this country for people of means, those who can

01:40afford it.

01:41I'm glad that the Democrat witness got a great opportunity growing up to go to an outstanding

01:46private school.

01:48I'm glad that Gavin Newsom's kids get to go to a great school and that Joe Biden's and

01:53Kamala Harris's kids.

01:54But what I don't like is when those very politicians or advocates who make one choice

02:00for their own families then seek to deny that choice, use their power to deny that choice

02:05to those who are less fortunate.

02:08I think that that tension is what we're trying to resolve here, and we're trying to expand

02:13that sort of opportunity.

02:14So, you know, we've heard a lot of railing against any form of voucher or scholarship

02:21or education savings account today.

02:24But the reality is that those who are making these arguments, by and large, don't just

02:28oppose vouchers or particular voucher programs.

02:31They oppose school choice in general.

02:34In fact, we saw that pivot even happen in the midst of this hearing, where they start

02:37off by saying we support public charter schools, and then suddenly we hear spurious arguments

02:41about for-profit charters, 90 percent of charters are nonprofit.

02:46Or we hear things like charters can turn away students, absolutely untrue.

02:50Charters are open to all and are tuition free.

02:53So that is the troubling theme that comes out of this, is that the opposition is really

03:00to anything that disrupts the business model of keeping kids trapped in failing schools.

03:06And it's that business model that has led to this education decline in our country.

03:13So what I think we need and what we're seeing emerge is a new model where the money follows

03:18the student.

03:19This is what extends opportunities to families who have other options, and it's what catalyzes

03:24system-wide change.

03:26And I will say in fairness, and I think that the ranking member is sincere on this, that

03:30the Democrat Party has been divided on the issue of charters.

03:33We see some who are clearly anti-charter school, but there are some that have been supportive,

03:38like when President Biden tried to cut charter school grants.

03:41Several Democrats, including Governor Polis in Colorado, came out against that.

03:48And we have seen bipartisan support for great charters like Success Academy and KIPP.

03:51I mean, Success Academy is the number one performing school in the entire state of New

03:56York.

03:57But nevertheless, and I've seen this firsthand in my own state, there has been a war against

04:01all forms of school choice, despite the manifold benefits that we've seen for students.

04:06So what I'm hoping is that those who are actually interested in getting positive education outcomes

04:12for kids will move past the talking point that we just need to put more money in there,

04:16since that's obviously a theory that's been falsified.

04:19Of course, we need to adequately fund education, but the notion that more money will produce

04:23better results without actual reform has been proven false time and again.

04:28But if we can find those who are genuinely interested, and I'm willing to partner with

04:32the ranking member and anyone else on this side of the aisle to support those forms of

04:36school choice that you can get behind.

04:38So despite the vast differences of opinion we've seen today, I'm hopeful that we'll find

04:42some common ground going forward.

04:43And I really think we do have an opportunity to catalyze reforms that will benefit millions

04:49of kids, millions of families across this country, and set our country on a much more

04:53promising path going forward.

Kiley Calls Out Newsom For Sending His Kids To In-Person Private School During COVID-19 Lockdowns

Category

Transcript

Recommended