Our kids are in danger
They’re not safe. They’re being left behind. Change is critical – and we can’t depend on bureaucrats to do it
Sharon Sedlar | September 15, 2025
| We live in a complicated and chaotic world, to be sure. So much violence. And that’s not lost on our children. They see it, hear it, share it on social media, show clips and snips to each other at school… And for us parents, protecting our children from harm is our first priority. But there are those who would rather hide the truth from us and continue to trap our kids in a system for their own benefit. Did you know that…Federal Law under ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) requires “that each State establish and implement a statewide policy requiring that a student” in a persistently dangerous school “be allowed to attend a safe public elementary school or secondary school…”According to an analysis by Commonwealth Foundation, the PA Department of Education “has no records identifying persistently dangerous schools and failed to provide safe alternatives for students attending dangerous schools.” It’s tragic that Pittsburgh and Philadelphia aren’t considered persistently dangerous districts with over 80% and 70% incident rates respectively. For an outspoken take on the topic, read Guy Ciarrocchi’s article: It’s even worse now because they’re purposefully misleading us about student safety. They don’t want us to know the truth: that they’re failing our kids. And they are far more passionate about opposing any form of parental choice in education than about protecting our kids. And not only do some seemingly want our children trapped in dangerous schools, but in failing schools as well. NAEP scores were released earlier this month – and they’re devastating. Jeanne Allen puts it perfectly when she calls the crisis homegrown. Our country has done this to our youth: “Only 22% of high school seniors are proficient in math and just 35% in reading – the lowest in more than 20 years.” TWENTY years. This predates the pandemic as we’ve been slipping for a decade, and education funding is at record levels; so don’t place blame solely on COVID, and definitely not funding. It’s a trend we have permitted to continue and the reality from which parents have been blinded. And yet, there are those fighting against options for these kids despite the weight of federal law and desperate need. Children are not being given options to escape persistently dangerous schools because there are none categorized as such per the PA Department of Education. Children are not able to leave the 383 PA low-achieving schools (dozens with ZERO PERCENT proficiency) because of bureaucratic limits in the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit program. (By the way – two schools have been added to the list for 2025-2026.) It’s not only our kids in danger – it’s society as a whole. Recent events point to an ever-escalating hostile world in one where our children were already at great risk. Young victims of school shootings have said that they didn’t think it would have happened “so soon” at their new school; as if it’s a inevitability. That is the world our children are growing up in – it’s not a matter of if the violence comes to their schoolhouse door – it’s when. And with an overall 35% literacy rate, apparently only the lucky, or those who can afford better-zoned schools, or private schools, will learn how to read. But the violence – that happens in all schools whether from within or outside; private and public alike. We’re not being alarmist when we say that. Our kids are not safe. They’re being left behind. Change is critical – and we can’t depend on bureaucrats to do it. Whether for your child or the one down the street, this must be changed. And it’s not gong to come on it’s own. We have to fight for it. |
