These States Are Moving Forward With School Choice Programs to ‘Unlock Doors’ for Children
Georgia and Ohio are moving forward with school choice voucher programs that will have a major impact on the education system and the freedom families will have in deciding how to educate their children.
School choice programs provide families with taxpayer funding to send their children to private schools or homeschool them.
And while voters in Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska recently rejected separate proposals for school choice, Georgia, Ohio, and Tennessee are moving forward with plans to unlock “doors to the future” for children.
Georgia
The Peach State will be accepting applications in early 2025 for a program that will give up to $6,500 a year to some families to pay for private school tuition or home-schooling expenses.
The Georgia Education Savings Authority voted on Monday to approve rules setting up the Georgia Promise Scholarship program.
The program will fund education savings accounts for students zoned for any public school in Georgia’s bottom 25% for academic achievement.
Families are free to spend the money on private school tuition, textbooks, transportation, home-schooling supplies, therapy, tutoring, or even early college courses for high school students.
And they can use the mygeorgiapromise.org website to pay tuition or buy goods and services.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill behind the program into law earlier this year. It allocates $141 million out of the state’s $14.1 billion education fund for the program.
“Really helping our kids in failing schools, that is really what it is all about, is about making sure we have a choice in education, and we are supporting parents in making the best choice for their child to get them in the best place that they can be to be successful,” Kemp told reporters.
Critics argue the new law could be detrimental to state public schools and doesn’t help struggling students.
“This bill will divert much needed public resources from our state’s 1.7 million public school students in order to cover private school tuition and other expenses for a small select few,” said Mikayla Arciaga, a spokesperson for the Intercultural Development Research Association, a Georgia education advocacy group.
Lisa Morgan, a kindergarten teacher and president of the Georgia Association of Educators argued, “Vouchers are not a lifeline for working families. They are a handout to upper class parents paid for by the working class.”
Michael J. Petrilli, the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, argues that school choice does not harm public schools or their students.
“School choice is a rare win-win policy, one that’s generally good for families taking advantage of greater options, while also helping to improve traditional public schools, as well,” he wrote. “We should root for all these sectors in American education to succeed. And we should root for the myth about the ‘death of public schools’ to die.”
Georgia Speaker Jon Burns: “We will not let our children continue to be trapped in a failing school. We are taking a stand to give the parents of Georgia better options. And we are unlocking doors to the future for the children across this state.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/OTQ0ze9Twc
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) March 13, 2024
Ohio
Ohio’s school choice model is a little different from Georgia’s.
The state passed universal school choice in 2023 which makes taxpayer vouchers and scholarships available regardless of income for nonpublic schools, including religious ones.
Additionally, Ohio has put part of its budget surplus toward $4.9 million in construction projects for religious schools.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State says that is unconstitutional. “The religious freedom of taxpayers is violated when their taxes are forcibly taken from them and devoted to religious instruction of a faith to which those taxpayers do not subscribe,” said Alex Luchenitser, the group’s associate legal director.
As CBN News reported, supporters of vouchers contend that it actually boils down to parents just being allowed to use their own tax dollars to choose the type of education they want for their own children.
And what do many parents want these days? Faith-based education. New data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Private School Universe Survey shows that most U.S. private schools are religious. In 2021, 20% of private schools were Catholic, and conservative Christian schools accounted for 12% (3,549) of the country’s private options.
Ohio Representative Josh Williams understands that school choice isn’t about politics; it’s simply about giving every child a chance at a better future. #SchoolChoice #SchoolChoiceNow pic.twitter.com/KiRXA1cKZs
— American Federation for Children (@SchoolChoiceNow) November 13, 2024
Ohio Christian Education Network Executive Director Troy McIntosh told the Associated Press that the state’s voucher program has made the options families already wanted affordable.
“Parents who had children were paying taxes, but they were all going to schools that that parent would rather not be in,” he said.
Tennessee
In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee introduced a new school choice bill last week to the state House and Senate.
The Education Freedom Act of 2025 is a revamped bill after Lee’s first proposal failed this year.
“What we’re doing is taking the next step on a piece of legislation that we worked on last year, didn’t finish, worked on all summer, and now it’s ready,” Lee told Chalkbeat. “So we’re committed to making sure that parents in this state have choices as it relates to where their child is educated.”
The bill would allow the state Department of Education to award up to 20,000 scholarships valued at $7,000 each.
The scholarships could be spent on tuition, tutoring, technology, and examination expenses. Nearly half of the scholarships are allocated to low-income students. It would also give public school teachers a one-time $2,000 bonus.
“Every kid is unique. Every kid has different learning styles. Every kid has a different life situation. And every family ought to have the opportunity to choose the best path for their kid,” the governor told Fox News. “In particular, I don’t think that only the wealthy families that can afford a private option, that those families should be the only ones and those children should be the only ones that have that option for choice.”
A child’s zip code or financial situation should NEVER determine the quality of their education. Every child deserves the chance to be in the school that best meets their needs, no exceptions.
If we’re serious about preparing every student for a bright future, we have to embrace…
— Walter T. Blanks Jr. (@WaltBlanksJr) November 14, 2024
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
#States #Moving #School #Choice #Programs #Unlock #Doors #Children