By Wendy Beyer, Riverside County Chair, Californians for School Choice

California's public-school curriculum has branched out in so many ways that it no longer contributes to the direct education of our children.  For example, our school's curriculum prioritizes critical race theory and early sex education instead of reading, writing and arithmetic. It's time for parents to have a choice in deciding where their children attend school and what they learn.  The landmark Educational Freedom Act would allow parents to choose the accredited private school for all K-12 students in the state who choose to opt into the proposed program.

Giving parents a choice and seeing students flee our public schools will force public school educational leaders to re-evaluate their offerings.  If our public schools want to keep our kids, they will need to get back to the basics to excel in school, be offered special classes that focus on reading and writing, math, fine arts and languages or courses for special needs children. 

Our public education system is failing too many kids. Back in 2019, only 32% of California's public school fourth-graders were "proficient" readers, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. According to the California Reading Coalition, more than half the children enrolled in over 300 public school districts can't read at grade level.  Too many families have a legitimate fear that the public K-12 system isn't adequately educating their children. Wealthy parents are sending their kids to private schools in record numbers. Families of every ethnicity, educational and economic background are exploring homeschooling. Most families can't afford to escape a system that is systemically ailing their children.

With the Educational Freedom Act, every child in California will have the means. Every student will receive $14,000 to spend on an accredited private or religious school of their choice. According to the Private School Review, California's average private elementary school tuition is $14,411 per year. While this is the average, many options are even less than this, and families would save the extra money in their accounts for the students to use at college or vocational schools until the student turns 30.

The lack of competition and innovation in education has resulted in rapidly rising costs and deterioration in the quality of K-12 education in this state for all but the wealthiest families. California has a de facto monopoly on K-12 education, with no school choice programs available for its students. Everyone deserves the chance to take their child out of a failing public school and search for a private option. This allows students to attend schools that more strongly align with their moral values.

The public-school students still receive significantly greater funding—an average of $21,152 per pupil (including existing bonds, parcel taxes, donations and federal funds) than the ESA funding of $14,000 per student.

The best part about The Educational Freedom Act is that it does not require raising taxes. Prop 98 funding is a guaranteed funding source already being spent on public K-12 education. Because private and homeschool students will receive their share of Prop 98 funding with this Act, the per-pupil Prop 98 funding will be slightly reduced. Instead of public students receiving taxpayers' money for education, private and homeschool students will also get their fair share.

Teachers will benefit from this, as well. Private sector schools often have class sizes that are a fraction of public schools, meaning that as kids migrate to these schools with smaller classes, more teachers will be needed. This increased demand for good teachers will result in better working conditions and compensation offers for teachers.

The Act treats all K-12 California students equally. An Educational Savings Account ("ESA") will be established for each K-12 child in California on request. Any unspent funds will accrue in a low-risk portfolio. Homeschool students can also have an ESA to pay for qualified educational expenses if they educate through an accredited private school independent study program.

The California Attorney General's Office has issued the official title and summary for Educational Freedom Act Initiative. However, the next step requires grassroots action from you and our supporters. To choose to become a reality, we need to gather around 1 million signatures to make it on the November 2022 ballot. For that, we need your signature and, eventually, your vote.

For more information or to find out how to sign the initiative or help gather signatures go to californiaschoolchoice.org, email us at info@californiaschoolchoice.org