Lawmakers debate benefits of school choice on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON D.C. — A growing interest in school choice had lawmakers debating the educational benefits in a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

School choice allows parents to use taxpayer money to choose schools that they believe fit their child’s needs.

That includes private school, charter school, and home school.

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Some experts say the private schools in these programs don’t always provide equal access for all students.

“They’re exempt from various anti-discrimination and constitutional restrictions, and evidence suggests some of these schools are in fact discriminating against students in admission as well as providing questionable curriculum,” University of South Carolina law professor Derek Black said.

But a graduate of a school choice program in Florida says she went from failing to earning her master’s degree.

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“I learned I was not a failure but the public school system had failed me,” Denisha Allen with American Federation for Children said. “Students in this country deserve a K-12 option that is beyond the singular one the government has assigned them.”

According to the nonprofit EdChoice, there are school choice options in about 32 states including Georgia and in Washington D.C.

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