Opinion

The right way feds can help schools

It’s time to give parents more power over the federal funds that now go toward the education of their children. This is necessary because we simply can’t be a great country without great schools — and right now we’re failing too many of our kids.

Across this country, students are being forced to attend schools that don’t address their needs, don’t prepare them for college, don’t graduate them or worst of all, aren’t safe.

For decades, the status quo response to failing schools has been more federal money. And over the years Washington has responded in kind, with federal K-12 education funding growing dramatically over the last 25 years.

And it hasn’t worked.

It’s time to try something different. It’s time to reject the status quo and offer parents a choice of schools that will best fit the needs of their kids. Education opportunity through school choice is the solution.

The simple act of graduating high school dramatically increases a student’s chances of being employed, and dramatically decreases that student’s chances of turning to crime. Today, especially in large urban areas, thousands of kids are dropping out of school without a degree and without hope.

That is unacceptable.

For many of these kids, poverty seems inescapable. The American dream, that each generation can have it better off than the one before it, seems out of reach for many families who have been stuck in poverty for generations.

I’ve visited schools across the country, meeting with passionate students, parents, teachers and education advocates — and it’s become evident that school choice is the surest way to break this vicious cycle.

As school-choice programs become more prevalent, the attacks increase from the education establishment. US Attorney General Eric Holder has relentlessly tried to shut down Louisiana’s model program. President Obama has routinely tried to end funding for the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. And now, New York Mayor de Blasio has vowed to roll back successful charter-school programs, and tragically put kids back into schools that were failing them.

Recently, The Post told the story of PS 106 in Far Rockaway, Queens where students had no math, reading or writing books for the new Common Core curriculum, no gym or art, and they spent much of their time watching movies. This is beyond unfair, it’s grossly negligent.

Ninety-eight percent of this school’s students reportedly are low-income “Title I” students. To serve those kids, the school receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional federal funding.

My proposal — contained in a successful amendment to a recent House bill — would allow those students to take that federal money with them to the public or charter school of their choice.

Critics of this idea argue that failing schools simply need more money. The choice for policy makers is whether a failed school should indeed receive more money, or should the parents and their kids, desperate to escape poverty, be empowered to use that money towards a quality education?

Decisions over educating our kids should start at the home with parents, not start in Washington with bureaucrats. The results speak for themselves.

Even those without school-age children should see the societal benefits of these reforms: Less crime, less unemployment, a more vibrant and educated workforce and a stronger economy. America cannot remain globally competitive if we continue to embrace the education status quo.

Losing a generation of children because we chose not to act is unacceptable. Every child deserves access to a great teacher, a safe and effective learning environment and the hope that they can one day pursue their dreams of success in college, a career and in life.

I have faith these dreams will become reality. I am optimistic that opponents of school choice will ultimately fail.

This week, we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Just over 50 years ago, Dr. King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and dreamed of an end to segregation. He knew this dream would be a reality because, as he often said, ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’

Education opportunity is justice for those children trapped in failing schools. And the arc is bending.

Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is the House majority leader.