The accelerating school choice movement
Dear John,
It’s National School Choice Week (January 22-28) and this year, there is a lot to celebrate. The school choice movement is accelerating across the nation as more state legislatures pass laws that empower parents to use tax dollars to send their child to the best school for them.
Earlier this week, Iowa's Republican Governor Kim Reynolds signed an education savings account bill into law that "allows families to take their children’s state-funded K-12 education dollars — about $7,600 per student — to the education providers of their choosing," explains school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis in his not-to-be missed article outlining similar wins in other states.
As DeAngelis explains, Iowa is the third state to enact a universal school choice policy. In 2021, West Virginia passed an ESA program and last year, Arizona’s former Gov. Doug Ducey signed an ESA law that launched "a school choice revolution among red states."
Also this week: Utah’s Senate passed a universal school choice bill that is now making its way to the governor's desk. Legislators have introduced school choice legislation this year in more than two dozen states.
Here in California, the teacher unions' iron grip on the Democrat-controlled legislature means proponents of school choice legislation face a steep uphill battle, but that doesn’t mean you can count California out. Today, parents have more education options than ever, thanks in part to the expansion of charter schools, homeschooling, virtual schooling and learning pods in the wake of COVID-19.
In fact, while enrollment in California’s union-run schools has plummeted over the last few years, the number of families choosing to send their children to union-free public charter schools has increased dramatically. And the number of California families that are now homeschooling has reached an all-time high.
California's private schools also continue to thrive. While student achievement scores in reading and math for California’s union-controlled schools were an unmitigated disaster in 2022, nationwide Catholic schools as a group outperformed traditional public schools in all fifty states.
Teachers' unions take note: California families across demographics are fed up with the state's failing government schools.
Latino parents in particular have the power to swing the pendulum on school choice and meaningful education reform. More than half of California’s K-12 public school students are Latino — nearly 3.2 million students.
But too many Latino students are trapped in failing schools: On state student achievement tests, only 36% of Latino students meet state English standards and just 21% of Latino students meet state math standards.
As the nonpartisan parent movement continues to grow, CPC's Parent Union is helping parents flex their political muscle both locally and in Sacramento, including expanding our grassroots efforts to share the good news about school choice and the parent movement with Latino families.
“Latino parents want the American Dream for their children and the foundation of that dream is a high-quality education,” said Parent Union founder Cecilia "Ceci" Iglesias, CPC‘s Director of Latino Engagement and former Trustee on the Santa Ana Unified school board. “Unfortunately, too many Latino students are stuck in low-performing schools that aren't teaching our kids the skills they need to compete for jobs."
California Policy Center's Parent Union helps train parents on how to effectively advocate for their child and connect with like-minded parents so they don’t feel alone in taking on California’s bureaucratic education system.
"We raise awareness that parents have options, whether it’s transferring out of their failing district or choosing a public charter school or homeschooling," Iglesias added. "The teachers' unions do their best to mislead the Latino community. Parent Union helps set the record straight."
Ceci is working overtime to get that message out to the Latino community. She joined Parents Defending Education this week in Washington, DC as part of a discussion group on amplifying outreach to Latino families in 2023. Ceci's bi-weekly column in Tu Camino Magazine focuses on education issues, and she's a regular guest on the popular El Diálogo Libre podcast with host Gustavo Vargas. Gustavo will be speaking on a panel with Ceci at Parent Union's Legislative Summit in Sacramento next month.
In addition, Ceci recently launched a Facebook Live program, Activa Tu Voz, that airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon on CPC's La Unión de Padres Facebook Group.
And don’t miss the Riverside-area School Choice Fair tonight, Friday, Jan. 27, from 5:00-8:00pm at The Avenue Church (8223 California Ave)! Enjoy music, raffles, free tacos for the first 100 attendees & student performances. For more information, contact Ceci at [email protected].
Read "Celebrate School Choice Week by Learning about Education Options" by Ceci Iglesias. Ceci’s columns in Spanish are available at parentunion.org/uniondepadres.
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Ceci Iglesias met with Congressman Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) this week in Washington, DC.
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RSVP for CPC's Parents, Not Partisans Summit
CPC's second annual Parent Union Legislative Summit —Parents, Not Partisans— in Sacramento is just two weeks away! Join us Feb. 8-9, 2023 to hear from legislators, school board members, parent group leaders and education reform experts on the most important education issues for 2023.
On Wednesday, February 8th, from 9:30am - 5:00pm, summit attendees will hear from our speakers on how to: Activate parents in your district to hold new school boards accountable; Stand up to the teachers' unions in defending our K-12 schools; Advance critical education issues such as literacy and math competencies; Make an impact in the state legislature in 2023 and much more.
After the event, we hope you'll join us to relax, have fun and network with summit participants at a special evening reception at 5:30pm.
Then, on Thursday, February 9th, from 9:30am-1:00pm, summit attendees will visit the State Capitol with fellow advocates for a roundtable discussion with key legislative staff and meetings with legislators.
See our speaker lineup and register for this free event with PROMO CODE: ParentUnion.
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Radio Free California #261: Gavin Newsom, Mean Girl
Lance Christensen, CPC's VP of Education Policy & Government Affairs, joins CPC President Will Swaim on this week's podcast. Don't miss this great conversation on why California's government can't even do its basic jobs well despite the massive amount of tax dollars spent. Listen now.
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Celebrate School Choice Week by Learning about Education Options
It's National School Choice Week! Ceci Iglesias, CPC's Director of Latino Engagement, explains why a growing movement of Latino families are leaving California's low-performing union-run schools and exercising their right to choose the best educational environment for their kids. Read the article.
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Mogul Migration
More high-profile tech leaders are losing their patience with California's anti-business regulatory morass, sky-high tax rates and, believe it or not, woke politics. CPC research associate Sheridan Swanson asks "How long will California’s elected leaders ignore the entrepreneurs who have warned that California has lost its luster?" Read the article.
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