Universal school choice means empowerment for students — and their families.
Universal school choice means empowerment for students — and their families.
T he most positive trend in American politics today is the success of universal school choice. Arizona, Iowa, Arkansas, Utah, and Florida have already created pre-funded education savings accounts for every student in their states. With several other states across the country hot on their tails, now it is North Carolina’s turn.
Last month, Senators Michael Lee, Amy Galey, and Lisa Barnes introduced Senate Bill 406, titled “Choose Your School, Choose Your Future.” Since its introduction, every single member of the senate Republican caucus has signed on as a co-sponsor to the bill. Now is the time for universal school choice in North Carolina. Groups such as Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina, the LIBRE Initiative, and “yes. every kid.” are prepared to go all-in with principled education champions in Raleigh.
North Carolina has been experimenting with, and embracing, school choice for years. Low-income families have qualified for the Opportunity Scholarship program, but the program has had its limitations — until now. Upon passage of Senate Bill 406, the program will be open to all students in North Carolina. Families that have decided that their local public school isn’t the best fit for their children will have access to funds to help with nonpublic-school tuition, and they also will be able to use the money for transportation, books, and other school supplies. Depending on a family’s income, students will be eligible to receive up to $7,200 a year toward their education.
All students deserve an education tailored to their needs, and different students thrive in different types of learning environments. It only makes sense to give families maximum support and flexibility to find the best options for their kids. In our diverse culture, specialized economy, and interconnected communities today, a one-size-fits-all model of education doesn’t make sense.
Education alternatives are proliferating all the time. Students today can pursue a college-prep curriculum, learn job skills in high-paying trades, or focus on computers and technology. There are great large schools and great small schools, religious and secular, rural and urban, and public, private, and home schools.
With all these different options on the table, someone must choose where and how each child is educated. We cannot ask the government to make such individualized decisions — that’s not fair to anyone, least of all teachers and school administrators. Families should be making those calls, and educational freedom allows them to do it.
Critics have long claimed that school choice will hurt public schools or even deprive taxpayers of accountability over education spending. But when Senate Bill 406 is enacted into law, the opposite will be true. Studies of states that have adopted school-choice policies overwhelming find positive effects on public schools.
And as for accountability, Opportunity Scholarships put education-spending decisions into the hands of the taxpayers themselves. Parental empowerment is the definition of transparency and accountability. Indeed, as money follows students, state lawmakers and scholars will see which educational approaches succeed in real time. And parents will respond accordingly.
Opportunity Scholarships are not an attack against anyone or anything. They simply give all parents the kind of empowerment and flexibility that has always been enjoyed by wealthy families. It’s no surprise that a 2020 national poll found 78 percent of African Americans and 79 percent of Latino Americans supportive of school choice.
Many school choice advocates point to the Covid-19 pandemic as the event that catalyzed the current school-choice boom, but it’s simply because we saw firsthand that innovative, personalized approaches are both practical and effective. School choice builds on, rather than subtracts from, the universe of education opportunities and family empowerment that America’s public community schools pioneered a century ago.
School choice isn’t coming to North Carolina — it’s already here — and it’s part of why we have one of the best education systems in the country. All Senate Bill 406 would do is take the parental choice now enjoyed by some families and extend it to all — no matter their race, creed, color, or income.
Senate Bill 406 would empower parents, help children, spur innovation, reward teachers, improve public schools, affirm local communities, and guarantee equal opportunity to all families and kids. After years of closures, learning loss, and controversy, universal school choice is a step toward an education future that works for everyone.
Tricia Cotham is a North Carolina state representative who switched parties from Democrat to Republican to support school choice. Tyler Voigt is deputy state director of Americans for Prosperity—North Carolina.