Republican-controlled states are poised to enact sweeping school choice programs as state lawmakers return to their legislative chambers at the beginning of 2023.
After a banner year in 2022 that saw Arizona become the first state to enact a universal school choice program supporters praised as the “gold standard” of school choice, other state legislatures are poised to enact similar programs in the coming months.
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Education freedom was a significant issue in state legislative races, especially Iowa and Texas, where anti-choice Republican incumbents lost their primary elections against candidates who favored expanding school choice programs.
“2021 was the year of school choice,” Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the pro-school choice organization the American Federation for Children, told the Washington Examiner. “18 states expanded or enacted programs to fund students instead of systems. 2023 is shaping up to be another banner year, especially after the school choice wave in the midterms.”
The “school choice wave” touted by DeAngelis was backed by several Republican governors who have vowed to expand the programs.
In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) had attempted to pass a publicly funded scholarship program that could be used toward private school tuition during the 2022 legislative session, but state lawmakers from her own party resisted and the measure failed. Now, with a new crop of legislators more friendly to Reynolds’s cause, Iowa is poised to expand choice in the state in the 2023 legislative session.
Voter support for pro-school choice candidates played out similarly in other states.
“76% of candidates supported by my organization, the American Federation for Children and its affiliates, won their races in 2022,” DeAngelis told the Washington Examiner. “We also targeted 69 incumbents and took out 40 of them. But don’t just take my word for it. Take a look at the liberal tears in the New Yorker magazine when they lamented that ‘education freedom’ candidates ‘fared depressingly well’ in the midterms. Perhaps we will call 2023 the year of education freedom.”
In addition to Iowa, school choice legislation should advance in many other states, including Arkansas, Idaho, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Florida, DeAngelis believes.
Several could emulate Arizona’s program that provides nearly $7,000 to all school-aged students.
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“School choice has become a GOP litmus test issue. School choice is on the Republican Party platform,” DeAngelis said.
“All eyes will be on states with GOP trifectas in 2023, including Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Arizona was able to go all-in with one-seat GOP majorities in each chamber. If Arizona could do it with the slimmest of GOP majorities, all other red states should be able to empower families with universal school choice, too.”
