Perhaps the part that resonated with me the most out of the two articles was a statement by Nikole Hannah Jones: “White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white. If their neighborhood is black, they want choice.” The first thing that popped into my head upon seeing that last word was Betsy Devos and her relentless advocacy for school choice and vouchers. I think it’s safe to say Devos is not at all fond of public schools, and wants to funnel federal money from the public school system to those of private and charter schools. Of course, she has paid and received millions of dollars over the years, no doubt having an influence on her position. But buried deep within that school choice advocacy, is there a hint of discrimination as well? Will white families, uncomfortable with the thought of having their kids go to school with blacks and Latinos, be encouraged to use vouchers to pull their children out of the public system? Will ultra-religious households use school choice to enroll their children in very religious schools, safe from opposing viewpoints and people? Will a widespread policy of school choice exacerbate segregation? On the flip side, if we get rid of private schools, what will happen to children in poor neighborhoods with poorly-funded public schools? Evidently, I don’t know enough about the American school system to be able to answer these complicated questions I literally thought of just now, but I do think it’s important for policymakers to have these kinds of discussions before implementing policies with widespread and possibly unintended consequences.