ICYMI: Opinion: Why education reform should include education scholarship accounts

Mar 2, 2020 by AFP

Americans for Prosperity-South Carolina Director of Grassroots Operations Candace Carroll | The Greenville News and the Anderson Independent Mail

For too long, K-12 education in our state has been a closed system that denies families access to options that ensure every child has an educational experience that meets his/her individual needs and unique learning styles. It’s a system that forces top-down mandates onto hardworking teachers, and overly relies on standardized tests and one-size-fits-all solutions.

Now, South Carolina stands on the verge of transforming that system to allow students to have a truly personalized education.

Education scholarship accounts (ESAs) would allow families to utilize their child’s state education funding to pay for a variety of services. If a child needed tutoring, specialized courses, educational therapies, or access to a new school, ESAs would empower families to make those decisions.

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We know parents feel a tremendous amount of anxiety and concern about ensuring their children have the best possible education. I know firsthand – my husband and I struggled to find a school that served our oldest daughter.

Initially, we found a school that worked for her. But things changed once the district decided the school she was attending would no longer offer the program our daughter needed.

Once again, my husband and I felt that unease in the pits of our stomachs, the gripping weight of concern for our daughter, as we embarked on a search for a new school.

If we’d had an ESA, we could have stayed in the community we loved and found ways to customize her education.

This isn’t just my story. It’s a story parents struggle with every day, every year, affecting thousands of kids throughout our state. That’s why I’m committed to (working to make) ESAs a reality in South Carolina.

Ensuring your child has access to an education that meets his/her individual needs shouldn’t be a gut-ripping experience. Families shouldn’t have to choose between moving or keeping their child in a school that does not meet their needs.

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Updating our approach means rejecting the idea that education is a zero-sum game — where some children must lose so others can win. We can’t pit one group of students against another. Allowing students to receive an education best suited to their needs enables all to thrive.

We don’t expect every child to receive the same gifts, all wrapped the same way. We need to empower teachers and families to work together to find the environment that best suits each child. The legislation being considered by the South Carolina State Senate is a step toward achieving that.

Click here to read the full op-ed.