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 You can get involved in the school choice movement by getting involved in your community and your government. Whether it be through talking to your legislator or school board member or simply writing a letter to the editor, there are many effective ways to push for reform in our education system. For starters, here is a letter to the editor from Interm Executive Director Jeff Barclay: Dear LJW Editor: I agree with Lawrence Virtual School Principal Gary Lewis, when it comes to educating the children of Kansas, "Competition will also improve quality." Evidenced by 2,000 Kansas students enrolled in online, virtual schools, parents are excited about having K-12 educational choices. I think it is time to expand educational choice by offering tax credits, vouchers, or some kind of tuition reimbursement program for families choosing to enroll their children in non-public, K-12 schools. Indeed, competition always improves service and quality, but financially, the educational playing field is still not level. For instance, online, virtual schools remain tax funded. Can anyone imagine American's tolerating our government owning and controlling our military industrial complex? The motive of every war would be more suspect than it is now. Yet, our school finance system perpetuates an educational monopoly. And I think the motive should be suspect. Higher taxes and more public school programs may not be the best way to recover a monopoly that by many measures is earning poor grades. Across America, programs enabling parental, educational choice are getting high marks. Yes, virtual schools provide an option, but they remain a government controlled option. Kansas Education Commissioner, Alexa Posny, acknowledges virtual schools are allowed to spend tax dollars in contracting for private, outside management and marketing services. Why couldn’t these dollars also be used to cover tuition for private schools? A system of tax credits works well for parental choice in birth to kindergarten child-cares and preschools. And every parent of college-aged children realizes a similar tax-funded system efficiently opens the door for student choices between public and private colleges. What is stopping the implementation of a school finance system offering tuition tax credits for investment in private, K-12 schools? Research by the Friedman Foundation and the Heartland Institute indicate that school choice not only improves the quality of education, whether it is public or private, but their statistics also point to lower tax levies in states like Arizona and Iowa where school choice programs exist.
Dr. Jeff Barclay
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