I have always been a big proponent of public schools. I went through them and it had always been my plan for my own kids as well – the school district is one of the reasons my husband and I moved to Royal Oak.

It was when the schools closed during the pandemic and didn’t give us any choice that I started to think families need more options.

My twin sons started kindergarten last year and, when COVID first hit, they offered a virtual option for anybody who didn’t feel comfortable sending their kids to school in person – which made sense. Then the option was taken away for those of us who were comfortable with having our children going to school. I couldn’t believe they removed that option.

My boys had to do kindergarten on a computer, which was awful. They cried literally every morning because they didn’t want to be on computers– they hated it.

I was on furlough from my job at first, so I tried to manage them trying to do kindergarten on a computer – which was a nightmare for all of us. Luckily, my mom and my aunt are retired teachers from the Catholic school system, so they came to help.

Not everybody is lucky enough to have the help I did – and you can’t just leave your kid in front of a computer to go to work. That’s why I joined the fight.

One of my sons developed severe separation anxiety. We did summer school to keep them in a routine since they missed so much of the school year and he cried every morning. At the beginning of first grade, he still cried. He is now past that and they both love school — they’re thriving. They want to learn, they love their teacher and their friends. It’s a world of difference.

Sometimes I’m thankful it was only kindergarten, but it’s also heartbreaking that was their kindergarten experience.

The schools only opened back up when it became a requirement to receive funding – they just met that minimum. They were only open four days a week and each day was an hour shorter than before. Friends of ours in private schools or other school districts never stopped going full time. How is that fair to my kids? Parents should be able to say ‘If you want the dollars for my kid, you’re going to give me options that work for us. Otherwise, I’m going to go someplace else.’

Apparently, money talks.

I was in a bunch of Facebook groups with people trying to get schools reopened and asked how we can get real school choice here in Michigan. Someone suggested I reach out to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and see if they’d take it on. I did – and told them I wanted to join their movement.

I spoke before the legislative committees when they were discussing school choice legislation. One legislator who was opposed suggested wouldn’t do anything for me and my children – we would be over the qualifying income threshold that other states have used for eligibility. My answer was ‘Michigan can be the first to expand that.’

I was proud it passed in Michigan’s legislature. Then it got vetoed by the governor, which was disappointing – I don’t feel like she ever listened to us.

To me, school choice is not a political issue – it’s just doing what’s best for our kids, so I don’t know why she would veto it. Every child should have an equal opportunity to get the education that’s the best fit for them.

No school is going to make everybody 100% happy, but that’s why it is important to have school choice. That way, if that school is not working, you have another option – private or public. Competition always makes everybody a little bit better, so I don’t think it would hurt any schools.

I wouldn’t necessarily pull my kids from their current public school if I could, but I want to have that option. Then, maybe the school board will listen more. If public schools lose people, they need to look at why.

I know it’s not going to happen overnight, but you’ve got to start somewhere – especially with things as uncertain as they are.

Even though we’re back to full time in person now, what’s to stop the school districts from changing things again? They could pull the rug out from under us at any moment because we don’t have options as parents.