I find the media attacks on Gov. Mark Sanford’s school choice plan ironic and disingenuous. As a former school board member and currently the chief lobbyist for offering educational options to families across SC, I believe I’m uniquely qualified to address the warped arguments being presented.

Opponents of parental choice continue to argue that the public school system is accountable, while a choice system is not. Explain how a system in which 26 percent of our schools are failing is being accountable. Explain how a system in which 138,000 children are forced to attend failing schools is accountable. Explain how a system in which only one in four children can read and write at a proficient level is accountable.

The irony here is that these sad results are flaunted in front of parents and then used as an argument against giving these same parents the ability to obtain a different, perhaps better, education for their children.

Giving parents an option on whether they want their children to remain in a certain school is true accountability — not simply reporting test results and rankings, then holding them hostage in that system.

School choice will force needed changes to a system that will not voluntarily release the bureaucratic stronghold it has over principals, teachers, and parents. As a former school board chairman, I have seen firsthand the stifling nature of our monopolistic system. Its power and influence has continued to grow for years to where anybody who dares challenge the establishment is labeled anti–education. That sentiment does not, and will not, help move SC forward.

Competition is needed to force bureaucratic administrators to cut waste and give decision–making abilities back to principals and teachers. Parents, children, and the state as a whole will be the beneficiaries because schools will be competing to provide services. Give parents the option to choose, and education and accountability in general will improve.

At one time, the US Postal Service was the only entity that could deliver a package. We now have a choice between the government–run service and private companies like UPS and FedEx. People have more options depending on their individual situation, and the US Postal Service is still around — operating better than ever. Education will see a similar result.

We must remember that education systems are there to benefit our children — not the other way around. There is nothing wrong or sinister with providing parents options and the financial means to send a child to a school that best fits their needs, whether it’s public or private.

When our country was founded, private institutions were the norm for delivering education. It wasn’t until the turn of the 20th century that public education became the norm. Since that time, more and more demands have been placed on the public education system in an effort to be everything to all children. That noble goal has not been successful, as demonstrated by the “accountability” measures school choice opponents hold in such high esteem.

We need to do something different. Other states have realized this and are looking to their past to secure their future. SC should do the same. I agree that a better–educated public is vital to the future success of our state. Where I disagree is the mechanism by which children are educated. It does not matter if it’s a public, private, or a home school education, as long as children are obtaining an education that allows them to compete in today’s world. Currently, that is not occurring for enough students.

Gov. Sanford views school choice as one part of the solution to this dilemma, along with providing the needed resources to our public education system. To imply this movement is an abandonment of public schools or that school choice is being presented as a panacea is utterly false.

The road to success is always under construction. School choice and the accountability it provides is part of that construction process and should be viewed as a key element to achieving success on the road to education reform.