Georgia state Rep. Mesha Mainor (R-56th District) was elected in 2020 as a Democrat to represent a deep blue portion of Atlanta in the Georgia House of Representatives. However, in a stunning reversal, Mainor recently announced she has decided to change her political allegiance to the GOP primarily due to her former party’s stubborn resistance to school choice.
“I support school choice, parent rights and opportunities for children to thrive, especially those that are marginalized and tend to fail in school,” Mainor said at the time of her decision to become a member of the GOP.
On the other hand, she ridiculed her former colleagues, who she said, “took a hard position and demanded every Democrat vote against children and for the teachers union. I voted yes for parents and yes for children, not failing schools.”
Mainor, who is black, added, “The most dangerous thing to the Democrat Party is a black person with a mind of their own.”
Her abrupt departure from the Democrats comes on the heels of a school choice bill that died in the Georgia Legislature, as all Democrats voted against it, except for Mainor.
The bill, which would have provided $6,500 vouchers for students stuck in the Peach State’s worst performing schools, was strongly supported by Gov. Brian Kemp.
For Mainor, this is a particularly important issue considering that in her district, “we have schools with 3% reading proficiency, 3% have obtained math proficiency by the eighth grade. And so, to say that this is just how it is and that the kid needs to just suffer these consequences, I don’t agree with that. And I don’t think that all parents agree with that either.”
Mainor is spot on. For years, especially since the vast majority of public schools shut down for in person learning during the pandemic, school choice has been a hot button issue with parents. In fact, the vast majority of parents, particularly those with students in underperforming schools, vociferously support school choice.
According to the American Federation for Children, 72 percent of registered voters support the concept of school choice, including 68 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Republicans, and 67 percent of Independents. Moreover, school choice is supported by 70 percent of blacks, 77 percent of Hispanics, 66 percent of Asians, and 72 percent of whites.
On top of this, mountains of data demonstrate that school choice legislation has far-reaching benefits throughout the community. For example, in states that have passed robust school choice bills: test scores have improved for both private and public schools, parent satisfaction has soared, civic values have progressed, racial and ethnic integration has been enhanced, school safety has advanced, and education spending has become more efficient.
So, why in the world would anybody, particularly Democrat lawmakers who represent the very people who most desperately want school choice, be opposed to such a popular idea?
As Mainor intimated, the number one reason lies with teacher unions, who remain adamantly opposed to the proliferation of school choice.
For far too long, public school leaders, teacher union officials, and Democrat politicians have colluded to keep school choice at bay.
Fortunately, in the post COVID-19 era, school choice bills are being passed throughout the country, finally affording underserved communities the basic right to choose the school that best fits the unique needs of their children.
In every sector of society, we understand the basic principle that monopolization is bad and competition is good. It is time we apply this principle to the most important aspect of our entire society: the education of our future generations.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.