As Republican candidates for president promote K-12 education reforms, they should reject “school choice” programs that interfere with the academic and religious freedom of participating private schools.
Otherwise, parents who dislike what’s happening in public schools, and are given financial assistance to make a different choice, may be limited to private schools that have been forced to adopt Common Core standards or to abandon their religious mission and teachings.
That is exactly what is now threatened by pending Georgia legislation known as “Business and Education Succeeding Together,” or BEST.
A bit of history: In 2008, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law the Qualified Education Expense Credit bill. This legislation allowed the creation of student scholarship organizations (SSOs), to which Georgia individual and corporate taxpayers can contribute in exchange for a state income tax credit. The SSOs use these contributions to grant scholarships to K-12 public school students so they can attend the private schools chosen by their parents.
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Read the full article at The Augusta Chronicle.
