This week is School Choice Week in Indiana. School Choice Week is an annual event on the state calendar to celebrate, promote, and share the positive impact of School Choice state wide. Often School Choice is used to talk about private schools but in reality, every family in Indiana can benefit from School Choice. Indiana has no geographic boundary for attending public schools. Meaning, any student in the state of Indiana can apply to attend any public school of their choice, regardless of where they live. My wife and I live in the city of Lafayette, but we could apply for enrollment at an Indianapolis Public School if we felt that was the best educational option for our son and were willing to make the logistics work.
In relation to private schools, School Choice has also brought about the School Choice Scholarship Program (commonly called school voucher). The School Choice Scholarship provides tuition funds for students of low income families and those in low-performing schools to attend private schools. Opponents of School Choice argue this is taking money away from public schools and costing the state tens of millions of dollars. In fact, money that funds the School Choice Scholarship is money the IDOE would have spent on educating the students benefitting from said scholarships if those students were attending public schools. School Choice allows the state to redirect money it would have spent on education anyway to assist families who want private education but do not have an income to support tuition. School Choice puts the power of finding the best educational fit for a student in the hands of that students’ parents, for both public and private schools.
At Faith Christian School, we are thankful for the public schools in our community and across our state who are doing the hard work of educating students. Indiana is blessed with some great public schools. We are also thankful for the School Choice movement that makes private education more readily available to low income families- families who work hard, pay real estate taxes and are involved in our local community. School Choice gives these active, contributing parents in our community the power to decide the best educational fit for their child(ren).
School Choice has the power to benefit every family in Indiana. During this week, we would like to express our thankfulness to public and private educators across our state and to our state legislators who have supported School Choice state wide. If you would like to encourage our local state representatives to continue to support School Choice, click here: (Senator Brandt Hershman/State Representative Sheila Klinker )
If you have questions about School Choice or how to participate in the School Choice Scholarship Program, please contact me.
Denny Vauters
765 447 2727
Denny Vauters