Taxpayer-funded vouchers for private education or homeschooling is expected to remain a divisive issue.
A cast of well-known Democrats and Republicans is urging families to lobby their state and national leaders for universal school choice after President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
“If ever there was a time to put parents in charge, it’s now,” Jeanne Allen, founder and CEO, Center for Education Reform’s (CER), said at a recent summit in Washington.
The CER event brought together advocates for school choice—that tax dollars for education should follow the child, regardless if they attend public schools, private schools, charter schools, or are homeschooled.
The event followed an election in which neither presidential candidate spoke much about education, and after voters in Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska rejected pro-school choice measures. Opponents of school choice say funding will be diverted from the most needy schools, especially in low socioeconomic areas.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager in the 2016 election, said the president-elect supports school choice and predicts he is ready to use the bully pulpit to make school choice a priority in the years ahead.
“We have a mandate now to do great things for people who voted for freedom,” Conway said, noting that many wealthy