In these states, school choice is the focus

School choice, an issue that has divided parents for years, is on the ballot this November in three states: Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska. Choice programs allow states to spend public funds on private or alternative schools.

The ballot papers in Colorado And Kentucky propose adding language supporting school choice to their state constitutions, but do not lay out details for a statewide program.

If Colorado and Kentucky’s measures pass, the states would join at least 29 states and the District of Columbia that already have some form of school choice language, it said an analysis of the education week.

The Nebraska Measure aims to repeal a $10 million school voucher program the state legislature passed this year and puts that decision in the hands of voters.

School choice experts told USA TODAY that these measures are consistent with debates across the country.

“What we’ve seen in recent years is that private school choice programs are increasing rapidly in almost exclusively red states,” said Deven Carlson, a professor and associate director of education at the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Public Policy Research.

But these measures suggest “some sort of setback,” Carlson said, especially as Colorado, a blue state, seeks to add school choice to its constitution.

Because of the vague language in the Colorado and Kentucky measures, it is unclear what impact any choice programs adopted in those states would have and which families would be served, said Liz Cohen, policy director at the independent think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy .

That will vary depending on how much money states spend on school choice programs, she said.

What is the school choice debate?

The existence of school choice programs in the United States dates from at least 1869 in Vermont. The modern school choice movement has been fueled by parental anger over school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some parents took their children away from neighborhood public schools and moved them to other types of schools, including private schools, residential schools and charter schools. Many Parents kept their children in these alternative schools.

Since the pandemic Several states have enacted school choice laws Parents can use public resources to fund alternative schools through vouchers or educational grants, according to a nationwide tracker from EdChoice, a nonprofit that advocates for school choice.

Opponents of these measures argue that school vouchers, education savings accounts and other school choice options harm public schools, which they say need all the resources they can get.

Contact Kayla Jimenez at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.