{"id":2031461,"date":"2023-09-14T07:13:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T11:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-will-it-take-for-blue-states-to-adopt-school-choice\/"},"modified":"2023-09-14T07:17:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T11:17:38","slug":"what-will-it-take-for-blue-states-to-adopt-school-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-will-it-take-for-blue-states-to-adopt-school-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can Blue States Embrace School Choice?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhat-will-it-take-for-blue-states-to-adopt-school-choice%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2031461&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Last week, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union <a href=\"https:\/\/katv.com\/news\/nation-world\/chicago-teachers-union-leader-slammed-for-sending-son-to-private-school-hypocrisy-of-the-highest-order-stacy-davis-gates-school-choice-public-schools-illinois\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed<\/a> she \u2064is sending her child to a \u200bprivate school despite previously opposing school choice efforts.<\/p>\n<p>All nine states \u200dthat have passed universal \u2064school choice are Republican leaning, which is to say that\u200d their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-will-it-take-for-blue-states-to-adopt-school-choice\/\" title=\"How Can Blue States Embrace School Choice?\">local teacher\u200d unions\u200b lacked sufficient \u200binfluence<\/a> to keep the\u200b reform from being enacted. \u200cSo the question \u200cnaturally arises, what\u200b will it\u200c take, beyond the familiar academic arguments, for \u2062so-called \u201cpurple\u201d and \u201cblue\u201d states to finally adopt \u2064something like school choice?<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-270952683\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-24d7cf81fb3167db5052362e7a352d83 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-24d7cf81fb3167db5052362e7a352d83\"><\/div>\n<p>According to the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federationforchildren.org\/new-poll-school-choice-support-soars-from-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent polling<\/a> \u2063from RealClear Opinion Research,\u2063 school \u2064choice\u2063 enjoys overwhelming public support, with 71 percent\u2062 of respondents \u2062favoring\u200c it and only 13 percent opposing it. The \u2063findings cut across party lines, with 66 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of Republicans, and \u200b69 percent of independents saying they would\u2062 like this kind of policy in their own communities.<\/p>\n<p>In search of the answer, \u200cOne Chance Illinois, the Children\u2019s Scholarship Fund, the California Policy Center, \u2062and other \u200cschool reform groups (including my own) sponsored a series of meetings at the recent State Policy Network annual meeting\u2064 in \u200bChicago. The idea was to bring together education leaders from around the U.S. to identify those aspects of school\u200d choice that\u200c might motivate a historically left-leaning state to embrace what, rightly or wrongly,\u200c has come \u200cto be viewed as a conservative program.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Economic Reasons for School Choice<\/h2>\n<p>One possible tipping point, many speakers agreed, is the growing recognition of how \u200cschool choice can help\u200c revive many of America\u2019s older industrial cities \u2014 places like Syracuse, New\u2063 York; Rockford, Illinois; and Waterbury, Connecticut. Citing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.effective-ed.org\/in-the-media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">research<\/a> by North Carolina State University Professor Bartley Danielsen, they argued that the biggest thing preventing many entrepreneurs and young professionals from repopulating\u200c such areas is a natural reluctance to put their \u200dchildren in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/crt-cannot-coexist-with-christianity-meet-the-man-waging-theological-war-against-critical-race-theory\/\" title=\"\u2018CRT Cannot Coexist With Christianity\u2019: Meet The Man Waging Theological War Against Critical Race Theory\">local public schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As Steve Looney, \u200ca \u2064trustee\u2063 of New Jersey\u2019s Excellent Education for Everyone, put it, \u200b\u201cCharter schools, magnet schools, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-are-we-going-to-tell-parents-watch-democratic-state-senator-break-from-party-confront-colleagues-over-school-choice\/\" title=\"\u2018What Are We Going To Tell Parents?\u2019: Watch Democratic State Senator Break From Party, Confront Colleagues Over School Choice\">private school scholarships<\/a>, and other educational options can clearly bring families and opportunity back to decaying neighborhoods.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edchoice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Renewing-Our-Cities-by-Bartley-Danielsen-David-Harrisson-and-Jing-Zhao.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Case<\/a> in point: the \u2062city of Santa\u200c Ana, California, \u2062which\u200b prior to 2000 was\u200d one of the least prosperous communities in Orange County. But \u2062thanks to the establishment of a local charter school, the community quickly \u2064reversed its population decline, \u200dencouraged new businesses\u2062 to open, and \u200cdramatically reduced the crime rate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bc8594865402de575060f2b7a81c1722 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bc8594865402de575060f2b7a81c1722\"><\/div>\n<p>Another economic argument for school choice \u2064was made by Dr. Martin Lueken, director of\u2064 fiscal research for the EdChoice Foundation. Noting that the per pupil funding in school choice programs tends to be a fraction of what \u2064it costs to educate the average\u200d public-school student, he said\u200d that subsidizing\u200d nonpublic schooling for even a small percentage of families could save America\u2019s blue states billions of dollars every year.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing \u200bon a 2021 \u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/manhattan.institute\/article\/education-savings-accounts-how-esas-can-promote-educational-freedom-for-new-york-families-and-improve-state-and-local-finances\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> he did for \u200bthe Manhattan Institute, \u200bLueken showed how much New York state could save by letting a <em>mere\u2063 1 percent<\/em> of its students leave their districts \u2063with a $6,500 budget for alternative schooling: over a quarter-billion annually. And if 10 percent of the\u2063 Empire State\u2019s K-12 children took advantage of the same offer, the savings jumped to nearly $3 billion a year.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Benefits to Society<\/h2>\n<p>A very different blue-state case for \u200bschool choice was\u2064 made by Jennifer Stefano, executive vice president \u200cof \u2062Pennsylvania\u2019s Commonwealth Foundation, who argued that many on the political left can be \u2064shown how\u2064 neatly it complements their\u2063 own commitment to social justice. Pennsylvania\u2019s governor, Democrat Josh Shapiro, has already\u200b agreed\u2063 to\u200b a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-pennsylvania-school-stakes-teachers-unions-kids-governor-shapiro-93cf336a?mod=opinion_lead_pos7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pending bill<\/a> that \u200cwould award private school scholarships \u2062of between $5,000 and $10,000\u200c to students from low-income \u2062families. A politically diverse\u2063 coalition of more than 65 individuals \u2062and organizations has endorsed the legislation.<\/p>\n<p>Of all the reasons given for why even blue states might adopt school choice, perhaps the most novel was offered by Kerry\u2062 McDonald, senior education fellow at the Foundation for Economic Freedom. \u201cIn many of these states,\u201d she\u200d argued, \u201cthe public\u2019s sympathy for something like it is far \u200dmore advanced than their local politicians realize.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9fa83eefcb5a5d212fe4fe1249b98858 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9fa83eefcb5a5d212fe4fe1249b98858\"><\/div>\n<p>McDonald went on to explain that many of the parents who reacted to the pandemic closing of public schools by joining with neighbors to homeschool their own children \u2062\u2014 starting so-called \u201cmicro-schools\u201d \u2014 have continued the practice. There are now an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edweek.org\/policy-politics\/opinion-what-the-heck-are-microschools\/2023\/05\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimated<\/a> 120,000 \u2063parent-run micro-schools in the U.S., collectively educating 1.5 million students.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, many of the blue \u2062legislatures most opposed to\u2062 school choice, including those in\u2063 Connecticut and New Jersey, have facilitated this micro-school explosion with some of the most liberal homeschooling regulations in \u2063the country. Very blue Maryland even allows ministers,\u2064 rabbis, and\u200d imams to substitute for \u200dstate regulators in the oversight of homeschool families.<\/p>\n<p>At \u200cthe same time, McDonald observed, many of the\u200d parents\u2064 who were homeschooling even before \u200bCovid, especially\u200d conservative Christians with large \u2063numbers of children, are \u200crethinking their traditional reluctance to lobby \u2064the state over education policy. A much larger segment of the blue-state public is ready to support \u2063politicians who favor school choice than generally supposed, she believes.<\/p>\n<p>There is \u2064growing recognition of \u200chow school choice can\u2062 revive depressed cities, reduce state budget deficits,\u200b advance social justice, and satisfy the hidden demand for\u200c more schooling options. These developments may finally persuade blue-state policymakers to subsidize a market\u2063 in K-12 education.<\/p>\n<p>The tipping\u200b point could come much sooner than anyone would have dared predict\u200c just a few years ago.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9ef894216b88f6895f8c193d96d08fe1 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9ef894216b88f6895f8c193d96d08fe1\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, the Chicago Teachers Union president admitted sending her child to a private school, contradicting her previous stance against school choice. Universal school choice has been implemented in nine Republican-leaning states, indicating that local teacher unions lacked enough influence to prevent this reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414,"featured_media":2031462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2031461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2031461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2031462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2031461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2031461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2031461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}