s. 313, “open enrollment” is legislation that will allow parents to enroll their children to any public school of their choice. s. 313 may seem like a baby step towards universal school choice on its surface, but the bill doesn’t really “open” very much. It has a cap of 3%, so in reality it leaves 97% of the public children behind. s.313 is tainted with several loopholes that districts can maneuver to burden parents with children with unmet educational needs.
I have an amendment that would make s. 313 somewhat better. This amendment allows children not enrolled in the public school system to take classes in the public school system. For example a homeschooling child may opt to take chemistry in a public school. Critics of this amendment have stated this may cause a “funding problem”. Last time I checked, the collection of taxes from parents that homeschool or send their kids to private schools hasn’t created this so called “funding problem”.
Take a look at this section:
Section 59-62-10 It is therefore the intent of the General Assembly that this chapter be construed broadly to maximize parental choice options and student access to public school educational opportunities presently unavailable to their children.
Really? Let’s see what happens.
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