The topic I wanted to advocate for is the removal or limit of government funded school vouchers. If school vouchers are allowed to expand in the manner that Trump’s school choice proposal calls for, then parents with children attending public schools would be footing the bill for those with children in private or religious schools. As such, those parents with children in the public school system would be the public that I address. These parents are the perfect target as they have the right to vote or impose change, have the wherewithal to rally themselves to combat, and have a vested interest in the development and care of their child.
In the modern outrage culture, issues do not enter the mainstream unless new legislation is being discussed. Once a topic is presented to the public, those with even a modicum of interest can become engaged. This happens through a flurry of news coverage and social media shares. This has happened several times previously and include examples such as when Donald Trump announced his $20 Billion proposal to fund school choice during his campaign and when he nominated Betsy DeVos, a staunch supporter of school choice, as his Secretary of Education. These key times when the Trump administration pushes for school choice are the most opportune time to release condemning information. It is in this way that Kairos implies.
Kairos is a complex idea that deals with the timing at which an audience is engaged and placement of the author’s material. If the message is received too early, the audience will no understand the context in why it is important. On the other hand, if delivered too late, the audience may have already made their decision on the issue and currently have a fleeting interest in the issue. The perfect time to release an editorial would be when the education budget is addressed to Congress. This will correspond to when most people search online for more information about the subject after hearing about it on the news or from a friend. Partnering with a mainstream news site such as CNN could capture the most readers so it would be the ideal placement. Correctly utilizing Kairos will be essential to making my message more of a paramount issue rather than just the hot topic of the day.
I think you are spot on with this argument and the audience you will be targeting. It is completely ridiculous to think parents who send their children to a public school should have to subsidize the bill for parents sending their kids to private schools. If parents need help with tuition for private elementary schools, then they shouldn’t be sending their children to private school in the first place. As far as incorporating kairos into your argument, you would definitely want to raise the issue at the right time and when most people are already paying attention. Along with pairing your timing with the mainstream media, you may also be able to create some kairotic scenarios. It may be useful to attend some PTA meetings of local public schools and address the issue there. These will be the people that will be affected by this issue the most and they will exclusively fit your main demographic.
Incorporating kairos into issues with any political persuasion is really difficult to do in the current climate. Sometimes when even see a name in a headline or a byline of someone supporting a policy or issue it’s hard for me not to make up my mind on the spot. I am interested to see how you will transform kairos from a theory into practice for your campaign. With regards to the substance of your topic, I think Muslim educators should found madrassas in every state with voucher programs and then we’ll see just how dedicated “school choice” advocates are to the choice component of this policy.