School Choice Facts
Facts
- No school, no teacher, no matter how good can be all things to all students and meet the child’s diverse needs.
- Parents should have access to various educational choices.
- Most democratic countries have a system of providing public dollars to support a plurality of education options.
- School choice DOES NOT drain money from public schools. Schools of choice educate students at lower/pupil cost, reserving more money for school districts. Some students leave, but the net financial result is a positive one for taxpayers
- Private school choice DOES NOT violate separation of church/state. Not in the U. S. Constitution. Ky State Constitution prohibits flow of public funds to faith based schools. Section 189, KY State Constitution, the voucher program difficult to pass. The Charter Schools/Tax Credit options are the best due to State Constitution. Ky State Constitution goes farther than U.S. Constitution to prohibit $$$$ to faith based schools.
- General trend in research indicates student learning increases when school choice is introduced.
- School choice DOES NOT fracture society. Research suggests students who attend choice schools demonstrate greater lifetime levels of social tolerance and civic engagement.
- School choice could serve students with disabilities based on policy developed and parent/child selecting school not fully compliant with IDEA.
- School choice environment needs an Accountability System in place
- Mechanisms to educate parents concerning school options need to be created.
- Transportation funding could be included in the amount of money that follows each child to his/her school of choice.
- Giving parents a choice among public schools run by a local district is NOT school choice.
- School choice is NOT a solution to all education problems.
3 arguments FOR school choice
- Effectiveness: Public schools are like a monopoly, a one size fits all where education is inefficient, change comes slowly, and primitive accountability structures. Can a public school be responsive in meeting the NEEDS of every child? NO
- Fairness: affluent families have school choice–$$$$. Can a public school be fair in meeting the needs of students from lower income, lower performing schools? NO
- Consistency: Consider “health care” (Medicare/Medicaid), there is no stipulation for the doctor being selected. Consider “food stamp recipients”, there is no stipulation for a certain grocery store. Consider “Pell Grant & GI Bill”, there is no stipulation for a particular university, public or private. But, in K-12, no consistency with choice.
Various policy (laws) FOR expansions in public funded education
- Homeschool supports (10 states): HS families receive some $$ for HS costs, or give HS students access to extra-curricular activities, or academic courses.
- Charter schools (45 states): Tuition free public schools independent of the local school district, which allows innovation and responsiveness to student needs.
- Tax Credits (21 states): Tax credit to encourage private donations (scholarships) to help students attend private schools.
- Vouchers (14 states, DC): Set amount of education $$$ directly to families to offset education costs.
- Education Savings Account (11 states): Like a voucher, wider eligibility criteria, border options for how ESA is spent.
- Open Enrollment (43 states): This is KY only policy. Student can attend public school other than the one assigned IF a seat available.
- KY Supreme Court ruled all of the above options are illegal under state constitution except “open enrollment.” First, a constitutional amendment is needed stating NO PART of the state constitution can be interpreted to block legislature for funding education options outside of public schools. Then, lawmakers decide which school choice policy is best for KY
The debate about whether families should have access to an array of schools should end, and the focus should be on ensuring that all of the options are great.
Kentucky will NOT give up the fight to make sure every student/family is empowered to find the learning environment that best meets their needs. Kentucky will BREAK DOWN barriers and find ways to fund students, not systems.
