Educational freedom was on a roll this past year.
Over 20 educational choice programs were either created or expanded in 18 states. This entails the creation of an estimated 1.5 million more education savings accounts, tax credit scholarships, and vouchers being made available. No group deserves more credit for these legislative victories than the students and families who advocated for them.
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Still, many politicians continue to oppose similar programs. The reasons include pressure from teacher unions and a belief that opposing school choice will help reelection bids. However, politicians who oppose school choice are making a mistake on the political front. Denying families access to educational options is increasingly politically dangerous.
According to the latest polling from the American Federation of Children, political candidates who send their children to a private school but oppose school choice for other families face an electorate 62% less likely to vote for them. Moreover, the lower levels of support for candidates who exercise school choice for their own children but deny access for other children are bipartisan. Fifty-six percent of Democratic voters are less likely to support candidates who practice “school choice for me but not for thee.” Republican voters oppose these candidates at a higher rate of 66%.
It’s no wonder that we see these statistics. Denying education options based on nothing other than family income is unjust. Every parent should be empowered to choose how their child is educated no matter their income, background, or who represents them politically.
Educational choice policies like education savings accounts (special accounts that allow parents to spend funds otherwise earmarked for their child’s public school on education-related expenses) have become wildly popular with voters. According to the American Federation of Children, 74% of voters support giving parents the right to use the tax dollars designated for their child’s education to send their child to either a public or private school.
Nevertheless, political candidates should not support school choice simply for electoral reasons. School choice policies have a proven track record of providing higher rates of perceived safety, parent satisfaction, and academic outcomes among students. One study even shows that school choice significantly reduced student mental health issues.
Forcing families to go to public schools by leaving them no other options, especially during a pandemic, is illogical and immoral. Politicians better start hopping on the school choice train. Soon enough, it will become political career suicide to deny families, especially lower-income families, the education options they deserve.
Cooper Conway is a contributor at Young Voices and a Frank Church Scholar at the Boise State University Honors College, where he studies political science. Follow him on Twitter @CooperConway1.
