Oklahoman: Movement Aims To Educate Parents About School Choice Policy, Options
Movement aims to educate parents about school choice policy, options
by The Oklahoman Editorial Board
TWO years ago, Renee Alvarado Porter became aware of an Education Savings Account bill at the Legislature. The proposal would have given parents a share of the per-pupil funding the state already allocates to educate a child, and allow them to use that money to choose any education option for their child, including private school.
Porter contacted the bill’s author to get more information, and was soon testifying in favor of the legislation before a House committee. That bill authorized ESAs only for low-
income students attending the worst public schools.
“It got voted down,” Porter recalls. “And I left there absolutely dumbfounded to think about that, at the end of the day, our legislators voted in favor of leaving poor kids in these horrible-performing schools.”
She concluded “something had to change,” especially since most families had “no idea, none whatsoever,” that this important debate was even underway.