As students across the country return to their classrooms, parents clearly support having options for which school their children will attend. Will they attend a traditional public school? A magnet school for science? Perhaps a public charter school in their neighborhood? These choices are good for children, good for parents and good for communities.
Yet many lawmakers, particularly Republicans, are using “school choice” language to siphon financial support away from public schools, both traditional and charter, and funnel it to parents who want taxpayer-funded subsidies for children who are already attending private schools. A budget approved by the North Carolina legislature this month will fund the second-largest private school voucher program in the country, with the state becoming the 10th to “offer taxpayer-funded universal school choice to attend private schools.”
The voucher-based version of school choice that many states are pursuing sends state resources to those who need it least and ignores the type of choice Americans overwhelmingly favor.
