Jeb Bush tells school reformers meeting in Indy to be bigger and bolder

Arika Herron | arika.herron@indystar.com

Show Caption Hide Caption Jeb Bush addresses school reformers in Indy Jeb Bush, Florida's former governor, spoke at Tuesday's American Federation for Children summit, an advocacy event for the school choice movement, Indianapolis, May 23, 2017.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called upon school choice reformers meeting in Indianapolis to be bigger and bolder this year, saying access to quality education was the “great civil rights issue of our time.”

“What better institution to make that choice for children than their very own parents?” Bush asked, while addressing the American Federation for Children summit Tuesday.

“It is the strangest thing in the world (that) in this country that has more choices, an abundance of choices in every aspect of our lives, and somehow that is a strange concept — that parents know best for their children.”

Bush said more states are opening their systems to allow parents to choose the right school for their children, but there is still work to be done.

The former Florida governor, who mounted an unsuccessful presidential bid against Donald Trump, was one of the first state leaders to make education reform a major issue and ran on a reform platform in 1998. Since then, the Florida model of education has been one that states around the country have turned toward.

Still, Bush said that change is not coming fast enough. He called for a “revolution in education” and encouraged reformers — those who support school choice in its many forms — to stop operating “on the margins.”

Bush said that powerful interests like teachers’ unions are working to protect the “financial interests of adults” in lieu of doing what’s best for children.

Advocates for public schools, including the Indiana teachers’ unions, often criticize programs like charter schools and vouchers schools for taking money away from struggling public schools to serve select groups of students in schools with less accountability.

Teresa Meredith, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association, pushed back against Bush’s view of teachers’ unions.

"We all need to be looking out for the kids in our community and finding ways to ensure that they have a chance at a bright future — that comes through neighborhood public schools," Meredith said. "It's about a future for all kids, not just a few."

Bush said school choice makes all schools better.

"When you create a marketplace of school choices and you have informed parents and they can choose between public, private, parochial, charter, virtual, blended and home-school education, the children do better," he said. "It is the best recipe for success."

Bush said the current education system will create two Americas — not the rich and poor, but those who can ride the technological wave of the future and those who drown in it.

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Bush did not give specifics on what this education revolution should look like, but said it should be student-centered and customized to each individual student.

Bush made no mention of school choice plans to come from President Donald Trump’s administration, which are expected to create federal tax credits for parents who enroll their children in private schools.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos addressed the AFC event Monday night, also calling for an expansion of choices and empowering parents.

Bush’s address to the full ballroom at the Westin hotel during the second day of AFC’s national summit was just 10 minutes long. He was presented with the organization’s John. T. Walton Champions for School Choice award.

The rest of the day served as a sort of "how-to" for those looking to expand school choice options in their own cities and states, with one session devoted to "seizing opportunity" while a sympathetic administration is in the White House and others detailing how states have been successful in expanding school choice.

During an afternoon session on "the Indiana story," education reform advocates from the state talked about their paths to success and lessons they've learned, while giving tips for others looking to replicate the state's model.

Indiana has one of the most robust charter school laws in the country and the largest private-school voucher program.

Betsy Wiley, president of the Institute for Quality Education — one of the approved organizations in Indiana's tax credit scholarship program and the offshoot of a group that pushed hard for education reform laws in the state — told the audience about creating a coalition to stand up to powerful anti-choice lobbies.

"We had to counteract that," Wiley said. "We created our own entity here, our own political action committee here, with that purpose.

"I strongly believe it is necessary to have that in any state, to have that organization set up and strong and willing to do it if you’re going to do big transformational changes."