America's broken education system is in dire need of reform to shift power away from government and back into families. That's why Republican lawmakers across the country have taken the lead in passing educational choice policies.
As President Donald Trump said four years ago, “Each child is a gift from God with limitless potential and deserves a fair shot at the American Dream.”
But to have that fair chance, “children and their families must have the freedom to pursue educational environments that suit their individual learning styles, develop their unique talents, and provide them with the skills they need for fulfilling and productive lives.” You have to be able to have the knowledge and the character,” President Trump explained. ”
Three years ago, Missouri's Republican legislature heard this call and introduced the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Policy (MOScholars). This gives families the freedom to choose schools and other learning environments that align with their values and best suit their child's learning needs. MOScholars allows parents of low-income families and students with special needs to receive scholarships worth $6,375 to spend on tuition, textbooks, tutoring, curriculum, educational therapy, transportation, and more .
Well, Congress recently passed a bill to expand MOScholars to more families.
SB 727, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Koenig, expands eligibility for MOScholars from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level, or from $62,400 to $93,600 for a family of four. Under previous law, children of civilian firefighters, police officers, or registered nurses in Missouri were not eligible, but now that SB 727 is signed into law, they are now eligible.
While this bill does not go as far as I would like, ideally all students would be eligible, it is clearly a step in the right direction for Missouri families.
why? Because if we're going to save America and we're going to save Missouri, school choice is one of the most important things we can do. The alternative is to continue down the same path and believe that the current style of education, government-run schools that indoctrinate children with anti-American, anti-freedom beliefs, will not somehow produce socialists. is.
There are many falsehoods and conspiracy theories targeting conservatives in an effort to eradicate school choice.
Some critics of school choice argue that educational choice policies like MOScholar increase regulation of private schools and homeschooling. These concerns are understandable but misplaced. If that's true, I definitely won't support it.
Another false claim is that the bill would ban guns in homes used for home education. That's simply not true. Missouri Firearms Coalition revealed.
Critics have misunderstood a line in the bill that defines “homeschool” as a type of school intended to meet state compulsory education requirements. However, this language is not new and is actually a direct import from the state language. existingHomeschool Statutes and has never been construed to incorporate all regulations governing public, charter, and private schools.
In reality, the conservative lawmakers who enacted MOScholars made sure that guardrails against government control were in place. For example, the law already states that private schools that voluntarily receive MOScholars funds from participating families “are not deemed to be agents of the state or federal government by virtue of accepting payments” and that “they are not required to change their beliefs.” We guarantee that there is no. , practices, admissions policies, or curriculum. ”
I have a lot of respect for homeschoolers who want to pay their own way and stay away from government interference. My own children receive part of their schooling at home. To alleviate their concerns, the bill even makes a clear distinction between traditional homeschoolers, who do not use MOScholars funds, and “family-paced education” (FPE) schools, which do.
But there are many families with children stuck in failing public schools, where children are too often indoctrinated with woke ideology. Our state and country would be better off if these families had access to MOScholars and were able to choose schools that are right for their children and reflect their values.
As Cory DeAngelis of the American Federation for Children and Jason Bedrick of the Heritage Foundation recently wrote on Fox News, “states with more school choice generally have more freedom for homeschooling.”
DeAngelis and Bedrick explain that, according to the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, many of the best states for homeschooling have universal or near-universal school choice policies. Similarly, most of the worst homeschooling states have no school choice policy at all.
Educational choice policies put parents in charge instead of politicians and unelected bureaucrats. Conservatives who support stronger families and don't support government should support school choice.
This article originally appeared in Springfield News. Leader: Burleson: It's time to expand educational freedom and choice in Missouri.