Parents should be allowed to find the school that best fits their child’s needs. That’s the message Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, wants Americans to hear. NSCW started on Sunday and concludes Saturday. Organizers estimate that 6.7 million people will participate in one of more than 32,000 nationwide events, including 125 events in Southern Nevada.
“Every child is different,” said Campanella while filming Nevada Politics Today. “Children learn differently. When we can pair kids up with schools that best meet their needs, they’re more inspired, challenged, motivated and happy. They’ll go on to more successful and productive lives. That’s really the goal of education.”
Campanella says school choice is more than just shorthand for Education Savings Accounts or vouchers. NSCW celebrates every educational option, including those offered by traditional public schools.
“More and more school districts and traditional public schools across the country are looking at the term and idea of school choice and going, ‘Okay, this is something we can compete in. We are strong and confident in terms of what we’re offering families. We want to use this week to let families know all of the great options within the district system,’ ” said Campanella.
Campanella praised Arizona and Florida for implementing some of the most far-reaching school choice programs in the country. He also mentioned Iowa’s efforts to provide school choice for rural communities.
“When you have all schools working together to try to serve every student — meaning traditional district schools, charters, magnets, private schools, online academies and homeschooling groups — you have a situation where all schools do get better,” said Campanella. “With the existing school choice reality in America today, school-district schools are a valid choice for many families.
“We need to make sure that we don’t put all of our effort into just one type of school, though, as a country. Even if a school gets the best ratings on standardized tests, it still might not be a great option for every student. You always need choice.”
School choice continues to draw strong opposition. Last year, American Federation of Teacher president Randi Weingarten said private school options, such as vouchers, were a “slightly more polite cousin of segregation.” Campanella, who said he visited education leaders in 25 states last year, strongly objected.
“I think that some of these messages that you’re hearing from folks, who for whatever reason — and I never question people’s motives — oppose school choice are simply wrong and are designed to divide people,” said Campanella. “We need less division in this country and more unity. One thing we are seeing this week is people coming together united, regardless of their ideology, for school choice, which serves an incredibly diverse array of students across this country.”
Campanella did decline to perform his rendition of the National School Choice Week dance.
Students took center stage Tuesday — showing off everything from their singing to soccer skills — as part of a weeklong celebration of school choice in the state.
More than 1,800 students, teachers and families gathered at Artemus Ham Hall on the UNLV campus to mark National School Choice Week, a designation designed to promote public awareness about various education options. The event, which included student performances and demonstrations as well as information booths set up by various education groups, was one of many such events scheduled this week across the Las Vegas Valley.
Most often associated with charter or private schools, the school choice term is much more expansive and includes magnet schools run by public school districts, home schooling, virtual learning and anything in between.
“It’s a personal choice, that’s what it comes down to,” said 36-year-old Jen Hainley, the mother of an 8-year-old second-grader at St. Gabriel Catholic School. “It means really having the ability to choose what learning environment is best for your child.”
For Hainley, that meant a private school. She knew her son wouldn’t do well in the large classrooms of the public schools near her family’s home in Mountain’s Edge. She also had trouble with large classrooms when she was younger.
“We’re really grateful to have the option to have that choice,” she said. “I’d want every child to have that choice.”
More to be done
But even with a focus on school choice, some parents still think there’s more to be done.
Jackie Ramos, a mother of four with one child left in school, said she wishes she could have sent her older children to better public schools than her neighborhood option, but they were not accepted to the schools she applied to, which run on a lottery system.
Her youngest son, however, is a student at Sandy Searles Miller Elementary School Academy for International Studies, a magnet school in the district that is outside their school district zone.
“I can see the difference,” she said.
Alicia Partida’s three children attend Mountain View Christian Schools using Nevada Opportunity Scholarships, a tax-credit scholarship program that helps offset the cost of tuition at private schools for families living in poverty.
Partida said, speaking in Spanish through a translator, said the public schools in her neighborhood were low-performing according to Nevada standards.
Even though she saved money, she would never have been able to afford the private school without the scholarship, she said.
Originally, she was a supporter of education savings accounts, a more expansive school choice program that ultimately didn’t get funded by the Legislature. It was through that discussion she learned about the Opportunity Scholarships, enabling her to move her kids to the school in November.
“They feel safe, they’re happier,” she said. “They were always good students, now they’re getting all A’s.”
Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.
National School Choice Week
Since 2011, National School Choice Week is the world’s largest annual celebration of opportunity in education, according to organizers. It is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical, independent public awareness event, and is not associated with any legislative lobbying or advocacy.
For several years Nevada has ranked almost last in K-12 education achievement and while many new programs and policies have been put in place some children just can’t wait for these programs to be fully implemented. And access to a quality education shouldn’t be limited to families that live in certain zip codes or based on the ability to pay for a private school. Every parents should be empowered to choose the best educational experience for their own children. That is why two years ago the Nevada Legislature created two programs to do just that. The Nevada Opportunity Scholarship and the Education Savings Account (ESA) programs put our state at the top in the nation for educational choices for every parent.
The Nevada Opportunity Scholarship Program mirrors other successful tax credit programs which have been available for over 10 years in various states. This program provides up to $7,755 in scholarship funds directed to help low to mid- income families to pay for private school tuition and fees. The funds are provided by Nevada companies which get a tax-credit in return for donating to this program. The Opportunity Scholarship program is available now and you can find more information on the State of Nevada Department of Education’s website here: http://bit.ly/1NSXsev.
The Nevada Education Savings Account (ESA) legislation was passed in 2015 and created the nation’s most expansive school choice program at that time. It provides public funds to pay for online learning, home-based schooling, private tuition, tutoring, therapy, among other educational services. The ESA is available to any Nevada public, magnet or charter school student who has attended a public school for at least 100 days. Children entering kindergarten or children from an active military duty household are exempt from the 100-day rule cited above. Under the ESA program K-12 students are eligible for approximately $5,100 per year/per child. If the student has a disability or the family qualifies for the free or reduced-price lunch program, they are eligible for about $5,800 per year.
After facing two lawsuits, the ESA program was ruled constitutional. Today, the ESA is simply waiting to be funded by the Legislature since the court’s ruling stated that the ESA funds must come from an account separate from the one used to support public schools. To comply with this ruling, Governor Brian Sandoval has introduced Senate Bill 506 to fund the program from general revenue dollars. Once this bill passes, the ESA program will become a reality for the thousands of families who applied.
For the last two years, parents and ESA supporters have been tirelessly fighting to make the ESA a reality in Nevada. Many of the supporters have sent emails, written letters, made phone calls and recorded personal testimony videos about the difference the ESA can make in their lives, and the lives of their children.
The interest shown in support of ESAs is enormous. Currently, there are over 10,000 ongoing applications submitted by families who believe in the program. Debunking the myth contrived by the opposition, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that 66% of completed ESA applications were originated by parents whose household income is less than $50,000 per year (January 31, 2017). Proving that the Education Savings Account program has become a solution not for the rich, but for the families who would not be able to afford to pay for educational options without this program.
The Nevada education system has many challenges. Persistently overcrowded classrooms, lingering teacher shortages, thousands of instances of bullying continue to persist at the expense of our children. Nevada’s public schools continue to rank among the last in the nation. Our Children need more options now.
For some families choosing a school for their children can be a very stressful decision. Without having the financial resources to pay for a different alternative, Nevadans have no other choice than to send their children to the schools assigned to them by virtue of their zip code, even when those schools may not be meeting their needs!
A poll of Nevada voters showed that 61% of them support the ESA. The same poll also showed that voters have an “overwhelmingly positive view” of ESAs and school choice in the state.
Despite the strong support that the community has shown for the program, some groups continue to protect the status quo, denying children who need something different a chance to get the education they deserve. The State Teachers Union, a multimillion dollar union backed by DC special interests, is spending large amounts of money to scare and to mislead Nevadans. In addition, elected Democratic leaders have expressed their reservations about supporting the ESA although they haven’t even heard the bill yet!
As we approach the end of this legislative session, we are anxiously hoping to see the ESA becoming a funded program, because we believe that parents should have the power to decide what to do and where to send their children so they could get a quality education.
With about one week left with legislative session, we will see if parent’s and children’s’ interest really does matter. We will see if what we have been fighting for turns into a tangible program ready to be implemented. It is our hope that our elected officials will do the right thing. It’s not too late to contact them! Please, let them know why the ESA program is important to you. Please visit the Nevada Legislature website and learn who your legislators are and contact them, you can use this link here to learn who your legislators are: http://mapserve1.leg.state.nv.us/whoRU/