OCPA column: Putting parents in charge of education

Putting parents in charge of education By Jonathan Small Today in Oklahoma, parents fall into two camps. One camp has the financial resources to move to another school district or independently pay for private school if a local district isn’t working out for their child. The other camp must endure problems and hope things somehow improve because those families don’t have the finances to get their children out of a geographically assigned school. But Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat wants to level the playing field and provide all Oklahoma parents—from all walks of life and all parts of the state—the ability to send their child to any school of their choice, including private schools. Senate Bill 1647, by Treat, would create the Oklahoma Empowerment Account (OEA) Program and provide all Oklahoma families with a state account that could be used to pay for a range of education services, including private-school tuition. The money in the account would be based on the per-pupil state-funding allotment already dedicated for a child. That’s revolutionary. For the first time, Oklahoma would fund students, not buildings, when it comes to education. Under Treat’s bill, every dime now allotted for K-12 education will continue to go to education. Not one penny will be cut. But instead of giving bureaucrats control, Treat would put parents in charge. Read more » by Jamison Faught - January 31, 2022 at 04:30PM

OCPA column: Putting parents in charge of education Click the title to read the entire article at Muskogee Politico