Support school choice because education isn't going back to normal | Opinion

• Dr. Kenneth T. Whalum, Jr. is pastor at the New Olivet Worship Center in Cordova, Tennessee.

One thing COVID-19 has taught us is that pandemics are apolitical. There is no Democrat or Republican way to die from a viral infection that chokes off our ability to breathe.

Another lesson that this awful disease has re-taught us is that health outcomes in the United States are largely determined by race, ethnicity, and ZIP code. Poverty should not be a death sentence, yet statistics show that poor Black and brown Americans are disproportionately represented in the mortality data.

But the most insightful learnings of this present age have to do with the equalizing potential of a good education.

In a way, this pandemic has put our children on a level playing field, regardless of their economic standing. Virtual learning has afforded public and private schools alike — with the help of good corporate citizens who have donated hardware, software, internet connections, and physical space — invigorating and exciting ways to educate.

And with news of a vaccine, there is no reason not to strategize ways in which we can not only cure the disease of the coronavirus, but the disease of unequal education outcomes among the children who will be future scientists who will cure future viruses.

Tennessee’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program is not a placebo. It is a proven cure for what ails so many of our children who happen to be restricted by poverty.

Unfortunately, political players, mostly Democrats, have tried to block the program, which is currently being litigated.

I have news for them: We ain't going back to school normal.

And School Choice Week 2021 (Jan. 24-30) will find us driving our point home with renewed fervor and focus.

People muse almost daily about when our nation will get “back to normal.” From visiting elderly relatives without fear of transmitting disease to seeing a cashier’s smile without a mask, it’s easy to long for a return to our pre-coronavirus lives.

But there’s one gaping area of our lives where none of us should want a return to normal— because normal wasn’t enough for many children, especially Black and brown Tennesseans.

In reshaping K-12 education, Tennessee families need to aim and ask for better than normal.

I’m a lifelong Democrat, and I look forward to influencing our new Democratic president to see the wisdom in providing parental school choice to millions of Americans who put him in office. I hope others in my position will use their voice to do the same.

Dr. Kenneth T. Whalum, Jr. is pastor at the New Olivet Worship Center in Cordova, Tennessee. 

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