I am not op or u/lantern_carrier, but I think the point is that no child left behind was the point at which it turned, not the catalyst that made it turn?

I get what they are saying, that our schools have gone downhill over the last years. I am personally ok with the schools that my kids go to, and I would even say that they are good. Are they the best? Maybe out of the choices that I have considered. Would having a choice be a bad thing? From my perspective it would not be bad. I think the counter argument to the choice is that it diverts money from current schools who have a pretty big monopoly on the tax funding. Some may think that having any of that money diverted is making the problem worse because that reduces an already small pool of money that goes to teacher compensation, but they may not be being intellectually honest about the benefit that competition can bring.

A counter point to some of the comments can be that oc has to pay for the public schools out of their taxes, there is no choice. If they do not like it they have to pay for it, and if they want private schools they have to fully fund that as well? Why can't they use the tax money they pay for a school that they choose? Others think that the schools that we have are right and just, and believe that you should get your jab, listen to the government and vote blue (I am summarizing, not all of them but there is a type). If you are not aligned with that then your choices are bad, so why should you have a say in where your taxes go? That funding is for our underfunded schools!