Wingfield: “Adults are arguing about school systems, not students’ needs”
Debates over education policy and funding are always passionate. These debate often lose sight of the purpose of education, namely what’s best for the students. Sadly, it’s happening again as the State prepares to roll out the Promise Scholarship program. Kyle Wingfield explains:
There are many good reasons to provide educational options to all children, not just some. The best reason, of course, is that all children deserve access to the education that best fits their needs. No child should be stuck in a substandard school just because of her ZIP code.
A more practical reason is the difficulty of trying to divide the will-haves from the won’t-haves. A late-breaking, nit-picking kerfuffle over Georgia’s new Promise Scholarship illustrates why.
In March, state legislators approved Senate Bill 233 to create these $6,500 scholarships for students who choose to leave their public school for a non-public education, such as private school or homeschooling. Among the requirements are these two provisions:
First: “The student is currently enrolled and has been continuously enrolled in a Georgia public school” for a set period of time, unless that student is eligible for kindergarten.
Second: “The student resides in the attendance zone of a public school that is included on the list of public schools” defined later as “the lowest 25% of all public schools based on the cumulative individual school ratings.”
There’s only one way to read those requirements, unless you want to tie yourself in knots to arrive at some other, predetermined conclusion. Any public school student zoned for any bottom 25% school — not just the one he attends — is eligible.
That’s how the state agency responsible for the Promise Scholarship is implementing the law. So, an elementary school student zoned for a bottom 25% middle school is eligible today, even if her elementary school isn’t listed.
Some people are not happy about that.
Articles appearing recently in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution express shock that SB 233 makes more students eligible than can actually participate while also claiming the $6500 made available via the Promise Scholarship is not enough. I look forward to the Editors expressing full support for universal school choice as envisioned by the original version of SB 233. Now that would be a program crafted with Georgia’s students in mind.
