Opportunity for Wyoming Children

by Mandy Ludtke

With children at home due to school closures, parents and teachers re-think educational access. You may have heard the terms "school choice" or "education choice." You may have passed these off, not realizing what they mean for you. You think to yourself, "When my children are in public school they are okay. Right? Our public schools have some fine teachers."

But what if you knew that today's public schools don't have to be your only option? What if you could look at your child and identify their specific needs that public schools are not able to fulfill? You know your child better than anyone. Maybe they would do better at home than in a classroom. Perhaps they need a specialized learning environment or curriculum. Perhaps you had an experience in school that you'd never wish upon your child. Maybe you are concerned for your child's safety because of bullying or Covid-19 blowback. What if you, the parent, had the means to determine what is best for your child and could afford to pay for it? This is why parents like me care about education choice.

Let me just break down for you my favorite option from among those available in other states. It is an education scholarship program paid for through an Education Savings Account or ESA.

Imagine you have access to a yearly savings account designated for your child's education. You might choose a private religious school, a charter school, a home school program, a special needs program or even contribute towards a teacher for a co-op home school with other parents. Experience in other states shows that children do better when parents get behind their educations by deciding how to allocate funds for what fits their child's individual talents and needs. Kids and families are happier.

Now here is my favorite part. What if you could manage that scholarship money wisely throughout your child's life so as to put aside some each year to pay for the University of Wyoming or a trade school when your child graduates?

As it is, we know that many or most tax dollars will be ill-spent. Some are funneled into a state public education system where as little as 40 % of the money reaches the classroom. Parents don't really know what is going on with their children in public schools or what test scores mean.

But when parents use scholarship funds, they make sure to get their money's worth. Of course, if you had the roughly $17,000 that Wyoming pays each year for your child's education that would be fantastic. Politics being what they are, government funding when parents allocate education dollars might range between $2,500 and $9,200 per student per year. You may have guessed that even with that modest amount of funding, students in scholarship programs tend to out-perform their public-school peers and children with special needs do better.

Even as state legislatures allocate more funds for these popular programs, there are waiting lines of families hoping to enroll their children. It is time for Wyoming families and students to have the kind of ESA opportunities that work so well in proven programs elsewhere.

The Wyoming Legislature will have an ESA bill under consideration for the 2021 Session. Although ESA's can save the State money and better serve students and families, it will take a lot of parent power to get Wyoming's ESA bill passed.