MCINTOSH RCP OPED – “SCHOOL CHOICE GRANTS WOULD HELP STRUGGLING FAMILIES”

Club for Growth Policy Updates  |   July 20, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Club for Growth President David McIntosh published an OpEd in RealClear Politics supporting school choice grants for families due to closings in the wake of Coronavirus. Read the OpEd here.

Excerpts

School Choice Grants Would Help Struggling Families
David McIntosh, RealClear Politics, 7/19/20

Millions of children are having their education disrupted by the coronavirus, and many school districts – comprising as much as 40% of schoolchildren in America — are unlikely to fully open in the fall. This outcome is unfair to students and their parents who don’t have other options and must try and fill the gaps left by the public school system. The federal government needs to provide choices for parents in this unprecedented situation.

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President Trump is fighting to give parents flexibility by proposing 10% of COVID-19 educational relief funding be designated for grants to private schools. Or send the money – as much as $10,000 per child — directly to their parents so they can choose a school that is open and safe for their children. Currently, parents who want to send their children to private schools because of the pandemic have to pay for tuition fully. With the president’s new program or direct grants to parents, families would have more and better options available to them. Congress must pass a parental choice program so America’s children can obtain the best education possible.

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The students who will be hurt the most if the public-school system struggles in the fall are those from low-income households. These families often don’t have the time or resources to supplement their children’s instruction.

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Instead of forcing low-income families into an inflexible, often failing system, the federal government should redirect the COVID relief funds to provide parents with alternative educational options. That is why President Trump advocates for spending these funds on private- and charter-school grants.

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Creating multiple options for parents and students is the best way forward and makes the otherwise nightmarish logistics of living during a pandemic more manageable. President Trump rightly says that “our country has got to get back, and it’s got to get back as soon as possible, and I don’t consider our country coming back if the schools are closed.” Providing parents with alternative educational options will help ensure this happens.