She reports that “99% of those attending wanted school choice. That included admitted leftists, public school teachers, retired public school teachers, and some school administrators. At least half said they moved to Mendon and Chittenden because they had school choice.”
The temporary rules will allow the state to set up “education freedom accounts” that would redirect state funding for low- and moderate-income students who choose to leave public schools for private, parochial or charter schools, or home schooling.
Last week Reason.com published an update on school choice developments in the states. It’s not too late for Vermont to catch up.
Carson v. Makin states the question this way: Does a state violate the Religious Clauses or Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by prohibiting students participating in an otherwise generally available student-aid program from choosing to use their aid to attend schools that provide religious, or “sectarian,” instruction?
Vermont, Mississippi and Puerto Rico all saw enrollment fall by more than 5%, while Washington, New Mexico, Michigan, Kentucky and Maine lost between 4% and 5% of enrollment. The average 3% drop represents some 1.5 million students according to the preliminary report.
Megan Tuttle says the plan will siphon limited money and resources from traditional public schools and force cities and towns to raise property taxes to make up for the loss of state funding. She said the union “remains open to all options regarding potential legal challenges.”
New Hampshire’s Republican-controlled Legislature pushed through a two-year $13.5 billion budget on Thursday that includes sweeping tax cuts and controversial measures limiting abortions and diverting more taxpayer dollars to school choice programs.
Tucked into the proposed two-year state budget is a provision that would authorize “education freedom accounts” which would divert state educational dollars for students who choose to leave public schools to attend private, parochial or charter schools, or home schooling.
As long as kids are forced into one-size-fits-all classrooms and curricula, there will be angry battles tearing communities apart over what that one size is going to be and who it’s going to fit. So, school choice.
In three lawsuits currently in process, plaintiff parents ask that public funds follow their children to the school of their choice. The impetus for those suits was the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, announced last June.
More children are likely to have increased access to educational options after state legislators across the U.S. advanced a slew of bills this year expanding school choice, according to several state-by-state surveys. “This is a banner year for the educational choice movement,” Jason Bedrick, director of policy at Ed Choice, said.
The forced remote learning fiasco imposed on Vermont public school students this past year highlighted the lack of common benefits available from the state’s education system.