Arbitrary boundaries shouldn’t matter when it comes to education

Folks in one area of Albuquerque are currently embroiled in a heated debate over whether kids one one side or another of an arbitrary line should be able to go to a particular school. The Albuquerque Journal has editorialized in favor of onerous annual proof of residency checks for Albuquerque Public Schools to make sure that “the right kids” are going to “the right schools.”

What a joke! Why should where you live have anything to do with where you go to school and how good of an education you can get?

The principled left (as opposed to the self-interested labor unions which support the status quo) has been complaining about “apartheid” in our nation’s public schools. What do you expect when the home or apartment you are able to afford also determines the quality of your child’s education?

Unfortunately, the left appears not to have any good ideas on how to improve our schools. Universal vouchers available to all kids would do the trick, but are despised by the unions. Other forms of school choice like tax credits and charter schools can help overcome the segregation (geographical, racial, and class) that is rampant in our education systems, but again, the unions often stand in the way.