A Lesson from U-Haul

It is no secret that people are fleeing California’s outrageous taxes and onerous business regulations. U-Haul reports that for the fourth consecutive year, California led the nation in the number of outbound truck rentals. The advocates of school choice should learn a lesson from U-Haul.

When individuals have freedom of choice, they make choices that they believe will be best for their life. This is true of which state in which to reside, as well as what school their children will attend.

As California continues to drift into the fantasy world of Progressivism Regressivism, individuals and businesses are deciding that they have had enough. And, because they have the freedom to act on their choices, they are leaving the state in droves. The Census Bureau estimates that 817,000 people left California between 2021 and 2022.

While parents are free to choose where they live, they don’t always have the same freedom when it comes to choosing where their children attend school. The vast majority of parents are held prisoner by a failing government school system because they lack the financial resources to utilize alternatives. They don’t have the freedom to flee schools that aren’t educating their children.

School choice is a step toward rectifying the absence of educational freedom. School choice programs alleviate much of the financial burden posed by alternatives to government schools. Vouchers and education savings accounts enable parents to flee the government school system.

Nobody—except perhaps those inside the California statehouse—would consider measures to prevent individuals from fleeing the state. Yet, such a law would be no different than what is currently happening with education.

Fundamentally, the same premises that underlie California’s tax and regulate regime also underlie support for the government school system. California is dominated by the premise that the “public interest” should guide all policy decisions. The result is laws that destroy the lives of the individuals comprising the public. Similarly, government schools are founded on the premise that educating children serves the “public interest,” even when those schools are failing.

School choice is the educational equivalent of renting a U-Haul truck. U-Haul enables individuals to move to places more in line with their values. School choice enables individuals to move their children to a school more in line with their values. The advocates of school choice would be well-served to learn a lesson from U-Haul.