The power of school choice

Meet Emilia Melendez – a mother of four from Milwaukee.  She didn’t finish high school and works at a private school where she earns just enough to take care of her family. She desperately wants her children to have the educational opportunities she never had, but realizes that she doesn’t have the means to help...

Meet Emilia Melendez – a mother of four from Milwaukee.  She didn’t finish high school and works at a private school where she earns just enough to take care of her family. She desperately wants her children to have the educational opportunities she never had, but realizes that she doesn’t have the means to help her children leave the substandard public school in her neighborhood.

Thankfully, Emilia enrolled her daughter in the Milwaukee Parent Choice Program, which allows students from poor and middle class families to receive a voucher worth more than $6,000 that they can use at private schools in the city.

Her daughter, Arely, now attends Notre Dame Middle School, an all-girls school that is outperforming its peers.

The Milwaukee Parent Choice Program has generated great results. A 1998 study showed that school choice students scored 6 percentage points higher in reading and 11 percentage points higher in math than students in traditional public schools. A 2009 study showed 82 percent of ninth graders in voucher schools graduated from high school, while just 70 percent of traditional public school students did.

The Griffins were in a similar predicament. They lived in a troubled Merrillville, Ind., neighborhood and felt trapped.  Because they couldn’t afford tuition at a private school, their children were forced to attend a poor-performing school in their neighborhood.

In 2011, they heard that the Indiana Legislature had passed Choice Scholarships – $4,000 to $5,000 vouchers given to students in low-income families to attend private schools.

They signed their son, Roman Jr., up for the program. He began attending Andrean High School and has never looked back.  His parents couldn’t be happier.

During 2013, the Institute is working hard to make school choice a reality in Illinois. We are launching an all-out media campaign this spring aimed at winning over hearts and minds, as well as writing bills and educating representatives to support legislation similar to the bills passed in Wisconsin and Indiana.

Choice is the cornerstone of any moral and effective education system. Empowering parents to choose a school that best fits their child’s interests, personalities and learning styles is the right thing to do.