(NAPSI)—For many families, few things are more important than
schooling—and an increasing number are taking it into their own hands.
They’re welcoming the idea of more ways for children to be educated
than simply by going to the district school. In schools, online, at home,
with a tutor or through a combination, families use school choice options to
meet each child’s particular educational needs.
Families that can afford it may move to a desired school district. But
there are many more ways to choose the best educational setting for your
kids.
Here’s a look at a few of the more popular:
1. Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) let parents withdraw their children from public
schools and get public funds paid into government—authorized savings
accounts—often via secure debit card-to cover private school tuition,
online learning, private tutoring, higher education expenses, and other
approved services and materials.
2. School Vouchers let parents
choose a private school using all or part of the public money set aside for
their children’s education. Funds typically expended by a school
district are allocated to the family instead in the form of a voucher for
tuition at private schools, including religious and nonreligious options.
3. Magnet schools are public
schools offering specialized curricula and programs. They’re designed
to attract students with a common interest or skill set, and students must
apply and be accepted.
4. Charter schools are
independently run public schools exempt from many rules and regulations in
exchange for increased accountability. Typically, if charters get more
applications than they have open seats, they accept students based on a
lottery. Families don’t need to use ESAs,
vouchers or tax-credit scholarships for charter schools because they’re
publicly funded. Charter schools put families in charge of choosing their
child’s education, principals in charge of running their schools, and
teachers in charge of leading their classrooms. They also tend to have high
standards for every student and give them the support they need to meet those
standards.
According to a Columbia University study, charter schools provide:
• Increased Innovation.
Charter schools have the independence to try new forms of teaching and
experiment with the best way to reach their students.
• Increased Efficiency.
Charter schools avoid myriad challenging government regulations.
• Greater Accountability.
Charter schools must attract students to succeed, or their charter can be
taken away.
• Increased Competition.
Like other choice schools, charter schools must compete for families as
customers. This is an ultimate form of accountability.
• Private Resources. Many
charter schools have attracted considerable philanthropic gifts to support
more robust programs.
5. Other types of school choice
include homeschooling, online learning, and
tax-credit scholarships that let taxpayers—individuals or businesses—get
full or partial tax credits when they donate to nonprofits that provide
private school scholarships. In addition, individual tax credits and
deductions let parents get state income tax relief for approved educational
expenses, such as tuition, books, supplies, computers, tutors and
transportation.
Learn More
You can get further information about school choice and what it can mean
for your kids from the experts at EdChoice, an
organization that advocates for the best education possible for students and for
parents to have control over their children’s education as a pathway to
successful lives and a stronger society.
A national leader in school choice research, its premise is: The more
people know about and understand educational choice, the more they can help
advance the movement. You can find it at www.edchoice.org.
“Charter schools are
independently run public schools exempt from many rules and regulations in
exchange for increased accountability. You
can learn about school choice and what it can mean for your kids from the experts
at EdChoice. http://bit.ly/2MIDM7m”
On the Net:North American Precis Syndicate, Inc.(NAPSI)