1A Remaking America: Who Gets To Choose When It Comes To School Choice?

1A

NPR

News

4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2023

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The perennial debate over school choice is ramping up once again in state legislatures across the country. At least 11 states are considering or have passed legislation this year that would allow public funds to go toward private school tuition or homeschooling, according to EdWeek.

But critics of school vouchers worry they divert money from public schools and that there's little to no oversight of how the money is spent.

We take a look at which states have school choice programs, which students they work for, and who they leave behind.

This conversation is part of our Remaking America collaboration with six public radio stations around the country. The series explores Americans' trust in institutions and the health of our democracy. Remaking America is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find us on Twitter @1A.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You say that it's about destroying public education.
0:13.1	This bill to me is about honoring parents.
0:17.5	I think we need to be cautious.
0:19.7	I think this is a big jump and I'm very, very nervous that to give choice to lots of
0:26.1	kids, which is wonderful.
0:28.3	You're going to be pulling vital resources from the kids that need it and the funding
0:32.0	that needs to exist.
0:33.5	The perennial debate over school choice is ramping up once again in several state legislatures
0:38.5	across the country.
0:39.9	You just heard Sarah Mackie.
0:41.6	She's a mother of two from Johnson County, Kansas, with one child in public school and
0:45.9	one in Catholic school.
0:47.4	She was speaking out against school vouchers at a Kansas House K-12 Budget Committee
0:51.1	hearing last week.
0:52.6	And before Sarah, you heard Republican State Representative Scott Hills speaking in favor
0:56.5	of the voucher program.
0:58.2	Kansas is one of at least 11 states where lawmakers have introduced and in some cases passed
1:03.0	school choice bills just this year.
1:05.2	That's according to Ed Week, an independent educational news organization.
1:09.2	Lawmakers in Kansas are proposing education savings accounts or ESAs.
1:14.0	It would allow parents to use about $5,000 a year at private or home schools.
1:19.0	This number would be adjusted for inflation.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.