The following is a guest post from Jessica Calarco, Associate Professor of Sociology, Indiana University​

​The COVID-19 pandemic is putting public education at risk. It has pushed some families out of public schooling and prompted others to opt out, as well.
 
As Emily Cox of the Herald-Times reported last week, MCCSC enrollment appears to be down 7% from last year. My own calculations (comparing numbers recently released by MCCSC to last year’s enrollment numbers) suggest that those declines are hitting the younger grades especially hard, with elementary enrollment down 12%. 
 
And MCCSC is not alone. A recent EdWeek survey found that more than half of educators in the U.S. are seeing enrollment declines in their districts' elementary schools, and especially in the lower grades, with nearly half reporting enrollment declines at the middle and high school level, as well. 
 
Some of these missing students have been pushed out of public schooling. When schools opened online this fall, some of these students didn’t have access to internet or a safe, quiet space to learn at home. Some needed more support than their family can provide at home, either because of disabilities, or because they are English language learners, or because their parents are essential workers. Some are staying home alone all day, and some may have siblings to care for, as well. These are the students for whom participating in online learning would be difficult or even impossible. Some of these students—especially if their families have more resources and more connections—have found alternative school options, and some just aren’t learning at all. 
 
Meanwhile, and even if they could participate in online public schooling, other missing students have opted out, instead. Some are being homeschooled by a family member, neighbor, or private tutor. Others in enrolling in online charter schools. And still others have opted to enroll in private schools or other nearby districts where schools opened in-person on time. 
 
These families are opting out for a wide range of reasons. My research with families here in Southern Indiana suggests that some families were dissatisfied with the online instruction their children received last spring, and they are confident that they (or a paid tutor) can better meet their children’s needs. Some families have found it difficult to juggle online school schedules with their work schedules, even if they are working from home, so they found an in-person option or created a homeschool schedule that doesn’t conflict with their own. Still other families have been frustrated by the uncertainty around public schooling plans, so they found an option that would give them a more consistent experience this year.
 
And of course, it’s understandable why families are opting out. The pandemic is still raging, and the risks of in-person instruction are high. Meanwhile,  public schools haven’t been given the money they need to reopen while keeping students, families, and educators safe—with enough teachers and space for small in-person classes, proper ventilation in every classroom, or enough bathrooms to not have to share. Furthermore, online learning is difficult or impossible for many students and families. And educators haven’t been given the time, training, or tech support to smoothly transition online. 
 
The problem, however, is that regardless of why students leave public schooling, the money follows them out. As the Herald-Times reported, a 7% decline in MCCSC enrollment will mean a loss of $5.2 million in funding from the state. And because this year’s enrollment determines funding for next year, MCCSC will lose that money regardless of how many students reenroll. Those funding cuts will almost certainly mean job losses for local teachers and local district staff. They will also mean bigger class sizes and fewer resources and opportunities for the students and families relying on public schools. Students and families who may need those resources the most. 
 
But lost resources aren’t the only problem here. As I argued recently in the New York Times, when families pull their children out of public schooling, those opt-outs “undermine the public’s confidence in the quality of public education and the necessity of funding it as a public good.” Essentially, the more families that opt out of public schooling, the more policymakers will feel justified in defunding public education and shifting school resources to private and for-profit options, instead. 
 
At the same time, however, it’s important not to blame the families who’ve opted out. The real blame belongs to the politicians who’ve refused to take the steps necessary to stop the virus. To the policymakers who, even more despicably, have treated this pandemic as a political and financial opportunity and not as a serious threat. They're the ones who have the most to gain from families opting out. And they're the ones making the situation worse.

—Jessica Calarco

If you are interested to see what big names are donating money to candidates or state-level PACs, you can search the following names in the “contributor” field.

• DeVos - Betsy and Dick DeVos are billionaire heirs to the Amway. They are proponents for school choice. They have financially supported the American Federation for Children, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the Alliance for School Choice.
• Fred Klipsch - Founder of speaker company Klipsch. He is an advocate for school choice and has served on the Board of Directors of EdChoice (Indiana-based nonprofit devoted to the privatization of schools through the promotion of an educational voucher system, founded by Milton Freeman). He founded pro–school privatization PAC, Hoosiers for Quality Education. Close friends with Betsy DeVos. 
• American Federation for Children - Pro–school privatization group. Supports school choice, vouchers and tax credits. Helps ALEC create model school privatization legislation. The group was organized and funded by the billionaire DeVos family. Betsy DeVos was chairman until she became the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. 
• Oberndorf - William and Susan Oberdorf are billionaire supporters of school choice. William Oberndof succeeded Betsy DeVos as chairman of the American Federation for Children.
• Walton - The family that owns Wal-Mart, has a foundation (Walton Family Foundation) that advocates and donates to education reform efforts. The foundation has supported the charter school movement. Billionaire Alice Walton makes her own personal donations and has done so to American Federation for Children and Hoosiers for Quality Education over the past few years. 
• K12  - A for-profit online education company. The company was started with $10 million from convicted junk-bond king Michael Milken and $30 million more from other Wall Street investors. It is a member of ALEC and lobbies for virtual education. It generates large annual revenues at the expense of taxpayers. In 2019 it generated over $1 billion in revenue. 10.7% increase from the previous year. K12 operates multiple schools and online programs in Indiana. 
• Allan Hubbard -  Assistant to President George W. Bush for Economic Policy and former Indiana Republican Party chairman, who played a role in major 2011 education reform legislation in Indiana. He has supported efforts by Indianapolis Public Schools to partner with charter schools and outside groups to open new school models or turnaround failing schools. Hubbard donated to school board candidates who back this reform.
• Red Apple Development - Develops and manages the facilities operated by Charter Schools, USA. Makes money buying, selling, and building charter schools. Based in Florida. 
• ​Christel DeHaan - Former owner of RCI (timeshares) and founder of Christel House, she was a school privatization supporter. When her charter school received a C in 2012 under the state’s new grading formula, the former state superintendent, Tony Bennett, scrambled to make the grade an A. 
• Charter Schools USA - For-profit management organization based in Florida that manages schools in Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, and North Carolina. It managed three schools in Indianapolis until last year when IPS cut ties and the state did not renew the contracts. While it was against IPS policy to work with for-profit operators, the three schools were under state takeover and the state chose Charter Schools USA as manager.  
• Hoosiers for Great Public Schools - A PAC created by former mayor of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson. Bart Peterson is currently president and CEO of Christel House International. PAC was registered by Caryl Auslander on April 30, 2020. She is director of Advanced Energy Economy. Her consulting firm is Torchbearer Public Affairs. She was formerly vice president of Education and Workforce Development Policy, and Federal Relations for the Indiana Chamber. 
• ​Hoosiers for Quality Education - is an education reform PAC founded by businessman Fred Klipsch. It is the political arm of the Institute for Quality Education and is formerly known as Hoosiers for Economic Growth. It supports private school vouchers and charter school expansion.

​For example, here is a DeVos result, which suggests we should ask the question: Who have Indiana’s past three governors worked for?

And here is a more specific result using “Hoosiers for Quality Education” as the contributor and “Rogers” as the recipient. State Senator Rogers was the author of the controversial “share referendum dollars with charter schools” amendment in 2020 HEA 1065. $51,500 from Hoosiers for Quality Education is a significant amount for a legislator who has only been in office since 2018. See the second image above. You will see she is near the top in terms of campaign amounts received. Again, we should ask the question: Who does Linda Rogers work for? ​

As we citizens ask questions such as

• Why does our district need a referendums?
• Why do parents and caregivers have to pay for textbooks and technology out of pocket when this is not the case in almost every other state?
• Why is my local public school closing?
• Why hasn't the state recovered the millions of dollars from Indiana Virtual?
• Why is my child's class so large?
• Why doesn't my child's school have a nurse or librarian?
• Why does my child's curriculum feel test-driven?
• Why is there a teacher shortage? 
• Why is teacher pay behind surrounding states?

and so on, we all need to ask: Who do our elected government officials work for?

When you head to the voting booth or complete your ballot by mail, be sure to do your research. Be an educated voter and vote for public education.   


Sources: Brendan Fischer, “Former Indiana Superintendent, Lauded by ALEC and Education Privatizers, Cheats on School Grading Formula for Top Donor,” PR Watch, July 30, 2013, https://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/07/12198/former-indiana-superintendent-lauded-alec-and-education-privatizers-cheats-school; Wikipedia.com, Sourcewatch.com,  K12.com, accessed September 16, 2020 ; and Eric Weddle, “Indy’s Al Hubbard Bows Out of Consideration for No. 2 U.S. Education, Job,” WFYI.org, June 4, 2017, https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indys-al-hubbard-bows-out-of-consideration-for-no-2-us-ed-job.