The “Education Scholarship Act” is a mess in my opinion, let me tell you why.
Several studies show there is no vast improvement in the pilot districts (Krueger and Zhu)
Lizette Gonzalez-Reynolds recently testified before the Senate Education Committee that the results were “nothing to write home about”, take that how you will.
Students are required to take less state exams, only math and English.
There is currently no tracking literature in the current document as written.
There is currently no discrimination terminology in the document.
There is currently nothing about students with disabilities in the document.
There is currently nothing about how the “first come, first served will be acknowledged.”
This is going to be a mess if enacted, and the kids, poor and middle-class kids, will be the ones that will suffer the most. Arizona, for example, has the same type of program where all kids are included, and they are struggling to pay for it, and it will soon be gone, in my opinion. The cost is over $1 billion this school year. There is lack of accountability and tracking it is a nightmare. Some are suspected of spending funds on luxury vacations, etc.
We do not want these issues. So why would we be pushing it like it will work differently for us. We do have to change the schools and how they are currently structured, but this program is not it. Only the private school folks will benefit from this, and they do not need the help.
Christopher Cooper