Imagine a world in which the President of the United States could prevent you from reading a story about incriminating emails found on his son’s laptop?
Actually, that’s what happened. When the New York Post ran a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, administration officials put pressure on media outlets to prevent you from reading it. Envision an America in which articles about the origins of Covid could be taken down by administration officials during the pandemic? You don’t have to imagine. That’s literally what they did. If you are appalled at the prospect of powerful politicians trying to suppress awkward opinions, I suspect you’d be concerned at any attempts by some in our state to restrict debate and discussion on certain topics, too. Unfortunately, some state officials seem to think they can bully organizations like MCPP in order to shut down what we say. This seems to be the case with school choice, an issue on which every conservative ought to agree. Some evidently don’t agree and are mad at us for promoting change. MCPP is 100 percent committed to parental choice as the only certain way to raise standards and counter left- wing values in the classroom. We relish the opportunity to listen to those with different ideas and engage with those that have a different viewpoint. Anyone is free to disagree with us. But no one that disagrees with our stance should ever try to shut down our advocacy the way Biden’s gang shut down the Hunter laptop story. Here’s why we won’t be cowed. First, it’s a question of credibility: MCPP is a conservative think tank. That means we’re cheerleaders for conservative policies, but not for any politicians.
To be sure, we probably agree 90 percent of the time with most elected state-wide officials. But when we disagree, we won’t hide the fact. Instead, we will do so openly, honestly and dispassionately (maybe even using a little humor from time to time ….) A think tank that shied away from asking state leaders questions that they’d rather not answer wouldn’t be worth a dime. Why would anyone take such an organization seriously? Second, you are the media: Biden’s gang, like politicians down the ages, tried to bully media organizations into ignoring inconvenient stories. That tactic doesn’t work anymore since Musk set social media free. Each week, MCPP reaches tens of thousands of folk across our state. We do so with published articles and media appearances. But the single biggest way we reach people is directly, the way I’m connecting with you now. Our email list has tens of thousands of subscribers, and a phenomenal open rate. This Wednesday, I uploaded a short video in the morning. By lunchtime it had been viewed 48,000 times. As of now, it’s been seen over 130,000 times – a high percentage in Mississippi. Thanks to Elon Musk’s X, we reach several million people every month, again many in Mississippi. Unless anyone has the power to shut down our social media operation, we are going to keep going. Third, and most important, School Choice is right: School choice is, as President Trump has said, the civil rights issue of our time. It's more than about school standards. The case for giving families control over their child’s share of tax dollars is moral. MCPP has outlined a three-step strategy to achieve universal school choice in our state. We are surrounded on three sides by conservative led states that have adopted school choice. People are free to disagree with us. So, too, are state-wide officials who can vote against school choice or kill it in committee (like some did with the ballot initiative, and anti DEI legislation and much more besides). But equally organizations like MCPP are free to explain to the public who is supporting school choice and who is trying to kill it. We won’t be cowed. Of course, what made the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop so explosive was not what was on the laptop. It was the realization as to what some were prepared to do to suppress stories they didn’t like. Nothing perhaps could be more ruinous the reputation of any politician. Douglas Carswell is the President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. MCPP sponsored this post.
14 comments:
No no no you don’t want school choice! What makes private schools great is they don’t take government money. Government money has government strings!
If the government is capable of such control, why would we want to give them influence in private schools? Money=influence
As a private school parent: No, I don’t want government money in private school. I cherish the freedom and am proud to pay for that. If you let others pay, then you just give up some of your freedom.
School choice is a valid issue, and I'm glad the MCPP has initiated the conversations.
But over the last few weeks, it seems that's the only thing they are concerned about ...
There are other Mississippi "public policies" that deserve their attention as well.
The MCPP is so pure.
Ya’ll aren’t listening to how this works.
For folks spending twenty grand for high school education, their $6600 is vacation money. For those wishing to get their kids into a private school, the low cost schools (say $9,000/year) just got cheap and those schools better be ready to expand. For poor folk, well all the best public schools are already full and those parents have their $6600 too. So there’s no change.
Summary, rich folks get a vacation, upper middle class folks have more to brag about. For everybody else life’s the same. It’s just another government giveaway to rich folks, this one being more obvious than most.
There aren’t 10 private schools in Mississippi that are more than decent, much less “great.”
Who is responsible for carrying these young scholars from Point A to Point B and back to Point A?
If there isn't public support for MCPP's school choice policy, they are somehow being victimized like people who questioned COVID origins? That is quite the stretch.
The federal Laptop Police won't cut you any slack. Off to the gulag.
This is just another scheme to "privatize" government functions and funnel the government money (your paid tax dollars) to private enterprise. Nothing new.
Are you serious?? I suppose JPS has good schools
I agree
You want to ___ up private schools get the idiot politicians and their opportunist buddies involved. Private schools are market driven and tuition is in accordance with what the market will pay.
Well over a decade ago at a board meeting the headmaster leading one of the larger private schools in our area proposed a tuition increase. A trustee stated we have 7 figures in the bank and a surplus with current tuition then asked so why raise it. The headmaster responded “because we can,” In other words tuition WILL skyrocket.
Keep the idiot politicians from both parties out of private schools. The state retirement is just one great reason to keep them away from anything that’s working fine as is.
There are maybe 5 private schools in the immediate metro area that are really worth what they charge. I am a huge Biden hater, and I voted for Trump, but people seem to miss two huge obstacles when it comes to school choice, and NO ONE has been able to tell me how these would work.
1- Since "anyone" should be able to go to a private school, how do you decide who gets to go? Also, when those schools have to expand, do they hire more teachers? When 10,000 kids want to go to Jackson Prep, what is the fair way to decide?
This will turn Mississippi HS sports into the NCAA, as black athletes are already preyed on by private schools who sell them pipe dreams and even hire black assistant coaches to lure kids to go to school there. I'll concede the fact that most of the time the kids is getting a better education, but what about the black kids who aren't athletes? They can just fend for themselves huh?
2- What about the numerous teachers and support staff who would lose their jobs? The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and we keep people who can't benefit a high school sports team in their place since they all have such a great chance of going to pro.
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