The condition of Alabama’s schools is one of the most serious problems facing the state, and Alabama Republicans have found what is unequivocally the worst solution imaginable.

Recently, they approved the Alabama Accountability Act, stipulating that families who pull their children out of “failing” public schools will get a $3,500 tax credit to send their children to private schools. In theory, this will allow students to go to prestigious private schools rather than inadequate ones, but in practice it’s flawed on nearly every level.

At the end of the day, this subsidy won’t allow poor kids to go to private schools. The average tuition cost of an Alabama private school is far more than $3,500 and, even if it wasn’t, a tax break at the end of the year isn’t much help to someone who needs the money immediately.

So here, essentially, is what the bill will do: First, it will give already advantaged families money they don’t need to send their kids to private school. Then, once the high-performing, wealthy students have all left, public schools will be even worse off than they are now. And at the end of it all, disadvantaged students will remain trapped in these ruined public schools.

No one likes Alabama’s public education system. But Alabama Republicans seem to think that the solution is to scuttle it, leaving poor students to go down with the ship.

We need public education, because it gives everyone a chance to succeed based on their merit, regardless of their station or family income. For disadvantaged but hardworking young Americans, public schools are the one chance to break the cycle of poverty. Private schools are simply unable to fill this role, because they discriminate based on wealth. Therefore, any attempt to replace public schools with private ones will lead to greater poverty and social stratification.

If Alabama Republicans sincerely want to help students in public schools, they need to fix public schools. And they need to acknowledge that the only way to do this is by giving schools more money, which may necessitate higher taxes or the institution of a state lottery.

I know that Republicans hate this, but it’s simply something that has to happen. And since some estimate that the Accountability Act will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, claims that we can’t fix schools because of the expense to taxpayers ring insincere.

We need to safeguard education for our children. And we need something other than the Accountability Act.

Nathan James is a sophomore majoring in public relations. His column runs weekly on Thursdays.