School choice will be on the ballot in three states on Election Day.
School choice is on the ballot in Kentucky, Colorado and Nebraska next week. The ballot measures each ask voters to determine whether families should have freedom with their education tax dollars, and they come on the heels of aNoble Predictive Insights determining 69% of likely voters support a federal school choice program.
In Kentucky, residents are divided over Amendment 2. The measure supports amending the Constitution of Kentucky to allow state funding to be provided to students "outside of public schools." Kelly Camm, a resident of Erlanger, supports the amendment. She argued last week the state's current approach to allocating funding is inequitable. "As a taxpayer in Kentucky, right now our taxes are only benefiting kids in public schools, and I really think that is not equitable," Camm told. "I really think that all kids should have the opportunity to benefit from all of the taxes that all taxpayers pay." Jesse Parks, the chair of the Boone County Schools Board of Education, disagrees. She told Local 12 News the idea of directing public funding to non-public schools should "give people pause." They do not follow the same guidelines that public schools do. They do not have to take all students," Parks said. "They don't have to take students with disabilities or diverse backgrounds, but they would be getting our public tax dollars." Similar arguments are being echoed in Colorado, where voters will face Amendment 80 next week. The amendment seeks to adjust the Colorado Constitution to ensure all children have "the right to school choice," defined as including, among other things, private schools, charter schools and homeschooling options.opposing Amendment 80, claiming it will jeopardize public school funding if enacted. However, Advance Colorado, the advocacy group behind the amendment, believes the measureThe reason that anti-choice, anti-parent-rights groups, such as the teachers unions, are spending millions to stop Amendment 80 is simple: They want to continue their efforts to hobble charter schools, attack homeschooling and even make it difficult for parents to choose other traditional public schools," Advance Colorado said.Swing state-focused ad campaign says charter school parents could decide November election In Nebraska, voters will decide whether to overturn 2023 legislation creating a $10 million education scholarship program. The program provides families with financial assistance to attend non-public schools. Those in support of overturning the legislation argue it will lead to decreased public school funding, lower teacher pay and higher property taxes. "Voting to Repeal LB1402’s voucher scheme is essential to protect public education and ensure fairness in how taxpayer dollars are used," the Nebraska State Education Association said. "Unlike public schools, private institutions lack the same accountability and transparency to taxpayers and can selectively admit students, creating an inequitable system where public money benefits only a few." However, Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska says opponents are looking to "strip" families of educational opportunities, explaining the program is designed to meet all students' needs. Former President Donald Trump said earlier this month he would sign the Educational Choice for Children Act, a school choice bill which recently passed the House Ways and Means Committee, if elected. He also championed a "universal school choice policy" during a recent campaign event in Milwaukee, stressing that federal dollars should "follow the student."in Pennsylvania on Saturday. "One of the ways to solve , I believe, is to give scholarships, is to give vouchers, to every single parent, every grandparent, who has cared for a child so that they can choose the educational choice that makes the most sense for their family," Sen. Vance said. Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have said little about school choice during their campaign. However, the Democratic Party's 2024 platform says party members "oppose the use of private-school vouchers, tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education." Gov. Walz, a former public school teacher, pushed back against school vouchers when his state's Republican-controlled Senate advocated for such a program in 2021. He said at the time he did not want to "defund public schools" when "those hardest hit need them more than ever," appearing to reference recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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