School Choice as the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time

Welcome to Old School, New School, Next School with Dom Giordano, a podcast devoted to shedding light on issues pertaining to making America smart again. These include, among many topics, school choice and parental rights. This podcast is dedicated to reversing the deeply disturbing trend known as the dumbing down of America. Now, here's your host, Educator.

and noted talk media commentator, Dom Giordano.

Hey, everyone. Welcome into this week's edition of Old School, New School, Next School.

By the way, last week, in case you missed it, we had on two great guests here with Dom Giordano talking about OpportunityKnoxPhilly.org.

And this is a organization through the Yass Prize we talked about. Jeff Yass, the noted benefactor of school choice, in which 17 schools are closing down in Philadelphia. They're being replaced for God knows what reason. And all those kids that go to those schools are at risk of being displaced to God knows what school. This offers a full scholarship to them if they're in one of those 17 schools.

to schools that have been vetted as nationally credited, great schools, and the scholarship will cover that child all the way through to the end of high school. You can't ask for anything better than that. And it was just another example of what we're talking about here on the issue of school choice. And we have some breaking news this week that the rules from the big, beautiful bill, where as a taxpayer,

you'll be able to donate $1,700 to organizations, nonprofits in Pennsylvania, maybe as many as 250 have already applied, that will be set up to grant school choice money to parents through the money that's in the big, beautiful bill that was passed by Congress a while ago. So how in the world could anyone continue to stand in the way of school choice?

Well, I'm looking at a column that talks about another remedy for that. And then I'll give you some of these new rules that are there and remind you again, if you know of anyone in those 17 schools in Philadelphia, you have to make them aware of the Opportunity Knox scholarships, the Ask scholarships to go to these schools. Please get them to apply. I cannot stress enough the urgency of this. You'll be doing a great service to them and to everyone else.

So one of the remedies that we haven't talked about before, we have talked a lot about making people aware of the various choice options out there. We've talked about the big, beautiful bill, and maybe 33, 34 states have now jumped in, and the governor has signed it, or the legislature. Polis is one of the Democrats in Colorado saying that they are going to take the money. They'd be foolish not to.

So Jeff, yes, the benefactor of this organization I'm talking about, wrote a big piece recently for the Washington Examiner that's getting some play. And in here, he said, we have to get rid of any Republican who refuses to get on board with the civil rights issue of our time, which is. And you hear Democrats say this all the time, you know, you shouldn't be determined your fate by the zip code that you live in.

I'm looking at a story today that's out about what poverty actually does due to the stress of it to the difficulties of bad schools and school districts. What it does to the brains, the actual brain formation they're looking at of students. How much more do we need to see? So Jeff says, I grew up in Queens, so I never paid attention to New York, even though I've lived in Philadelphia for many years. New York spends roughly $37.

to educate about 850,000 children. That's over 43,000 per child. The results are abysmal. Two-thirds of fourth graders can't do math properly, and almost three-quarters can't read at grade level. The numbers are similar in almost all of our major cities. The bottom line is this. We know the politics of this. Let's face it. We know that by and large, even though there are some Democrats who get it on this, we've had one on a Democrat a few weeks ago.

who leads the charge telling Democrats it's in their political advantage, it's the right thing to do, to be in favor of school choice. But the teachers' unions provide so much money, so many foot soldiers, so much of the ideological thrust of this, that many Democrats are reluctant to ever be for school choice. What about Republicans? Well, we're seeing, sadly, just enough Republicans

places like Texas, Mississippi,

somewhat here in Pennsylvania, a few in Florida.

We're seeing where their vote is critical.

Not only is it their vote when a school choice program comes up,

like what we're talking about with a big, beautiful bill.

But yes, as any Republican who not only votes the wrong way on this,

on the civil rights issue of our time,

but who is reluctant to be in the forefront with this,

They should be out. In other words, we should primary them and get someone else in. Now you can say, come on, just on this issue. Yeah, because this issue is not just any issue. I agree. It is the civil rights issue of our time. And we are getting close. So the point is this. It's not just enough to agitate for more money for school choice. It is also necessary to say, you're not going to be in the Republican Party.

We're going to come after you politically. We're going to primary you. We're going to continue to push this if you are not for school choice. So that's the politics of it. In other words, we're winning on some fronts. Now we have to win on the political front. I would argue, too, it's not just to be for it. In the governor's race, for example, in Pennsylvania, Stacey Garrity is pro school choice.

She's been on Old School, New School, Next School, this podcast, to say that, yes, I am for it. I will sign the big, beautiful bill. I will push for this. She went through a whole extended program on this versus Josh Shapiro, the Democrat. We need to put as much pressure we can on every Republican to not hide away because they're afraid of the teachers union, whatever it might be. They're afraid of being accused of running down the public schools.

I'm not sure what it is. They must speak up loudly to say we want choice and we want it now. Now here's an example too. They have to be out there willing to counter the big lies that will be out there on just about anything. Just in the past week, the Trump administration, the U.S. Treasury Department, released new guidelines on the federal scholarship program. This is the tax credit we're talking about.

This is the one for the big, beautiful bill. Beginning in January 2027, any taxpayer can donate to a scholarship organization and receive up to a $1,700 tax credit. These tax credits will provide students in public or private schools with scholarships for tuition, fees, tutoring, special needs services, books, or supplies. There is no cost for the state or school districts. We're not taking it away from them. Now, you heard what I said there, though.

They would have you believe that the entire intent of this is to get rid of the public schools. Somehow or another, this is a plot. Look, if you want to, you see that as where you want your kid to go, you see that as a taxpayer, knock yourself out. But these scholarship funds that the Treasury Department released the regulations on, they can support public school students through tutoring, after-school program, special ed services, technology, access,

and other educational supports that strengthen learning outcomes. This program creates new pathways for opportunity for children across educational settings and income levels. Now, Pennsylvania already has strong programs like the Educational Improvement Tax Credit and Opportunity Scholarship. Those are worthwhile. But the demand for this far exceeds the supply. Students need and deserve more. The federal program would fill crucial gaps.

and provide additional resources to students and families who are searching for those solutions right now. In other words, knock yourself out. We're going to go and improve the public schools. My kid can't wait to this millennia where that happens. That's the bottom line behind all this. Now, one of the things you're going to hear, and Governor Shapiro might be one of the ones that does this, one of the things we're hearing is this, that we are waiting.

for they're saying this would take away states' rights now. In other words, they're saying that under this bill, you will not be able to rein in at the state level these choices that parents might make of these schools. This is another red herring. In other words, they're trying to have you believe that we're going to put out there schools, private schools, that would discriminate.

against people, do something of that nature. This happened in Colorado, where Governor Polis, who is progressive, said, I'm going to take the money. He made that decision early on. He's the first Democrat to do that. Good for him. The rearguard action of the legislature there, which is also progressive, was to say, we're going to block the Catholic schools. They accused Catholic schools, for example, of discrimination. They lost on that. That was

It's bogus.

So if you hear, well, yeah, I could be for this, but I don't like it that some of these schools are discriminatory.

We don't have any control at the state level.

The guidelines here are solid.

We'll have the final guidelines soon.

But this is excruciating, is the point I've been making this entire podcast, Old School, New School, Next School, is that we can't wait.

So we may have trouble getting Democrats off on this. We have to elect enough Republicans, and these have to be Republicans. If they want the coat of arms that says, I'm a Republican, what's the core principle of the Republican Party? Well, you often hear the Republican Party is for small government. The Republican Party should be for a Republican representative, limited spending, all those things, right?

We have to introduce the idea that if you're not for school choice in the manner that I talked about, that you'll vote for it, you'll push for it, you'll be public for that. You then are going to be primaried every time wherever you are in whatever state you might be. In other words, we are going to try to drive you out of the Republican Party. You don't belong. This is a civil rights issue of the time. And as you know, you probably know, from Lincoln, the founder of the

of the Republican Party, all the way to the great civil rights action in the 60s, the Republican Party was there, whatever anyone tells you, supporting that. This is the same kind of thing. So I'm heartened to tell you that the regulations are out there. These are being looked at now. Okay. They'll be finalized in the near future. The money will be there. $1,700.

You can contribute 250 scholarship organizations are apparently waiting in Pennsylvania.

Some of this money will go to public school students in a manner that I talked about.

So what's the missing piece?

The missing piece is the rear guard action of those who don't care about any of this.

They want to tell you that we're wrong, that the 33 governors, legislatures already or more, more each day.

that have signed off on this are on the wrong side of history. That this is not the civil rights issue of our time. Well, it certainly is. Think about these poor kids. Think about the opportunity, Knox, Philly.org, that we talked about last week. 17 schools, hundreds and hundreds of kids may have to go pretty far away or to a school that's worse than where they are. How in the world do we allow that to happen?

Philadelphia Public Schools has a budget just under $5 billion and they're losing students all the time. Why in the world would a parent not want a full scholarship all the way through high school in a school that has been vetted and accredited at a great level that meets every criteria? We've been through some of the schools. Father Judge is one. LeCory Academy, if you're in Philadelphia. But this is a national thing. It's out there nationally. So here's the thing to do.

Check out your local politicians, particularly Republicans. Let them know and we'll continue to remind you of this. If you're not vocally pushing for school choice, the big, beautiful bill, all the things we give you each week, then we are coming after you. We're going to primary you. We're going to push for someone else. Now, if you have a question, you have a concern, you have anything you want me to review or ask me about in this whole field, parental rights, make America smarter.

And by the way, on the Make America Smart Again front, I'm a big fan of the Toy Story. We're up to Toy Story 5. All right? They're for adults, too. And Toy Story 5 shows the toys being replaced by AI. In other words, an iPad is the toy, is the thing that connects to a child. And they're trying to talk about this threat. Every Toy Story is another threat out there to the toys. And how bad this would be.

So again, we are talking day to day about Make America Smart Again, and one of the best ways to do that, parental rights and school choice. Hit me with an email, domshow at aol.com. Love to correspond with you, domshow, D-O-M-S-H-O-W, at aol.com. Until next week, remember, we're on the march. We're going to win on this. We are winning now. But we have to add this political piece to it to be successful.

Dom Giordano, thanks for listening. Please share this with anyone you know to Old School, New School, Next School. Old School, New School, Next School with Dom Giordano is a presentation of Giordano Productions, LLC. Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.