Constitutional amendment would bring school choice to more KY students | Opinion

It’s always nice to see individuals cherry pick information to fit the narrative they wish to push. The recent opinion pieces and news articles I have read have done an amazing job at this.

I have watched for far too long individuals essentially mock and belittle parents and grandparents who want to send their kids to a school outside their zip code or beyond their financial means.

We often hear others use terms like rich and fancy. However, there is nothing fancy about discovering your child has a learning difference, and the very good school that resides in your zip code can’t meet their needs. There is nothing fancy about making sacrifices every day and working multiple jobs just to send them to the school you know they need to ensure they succeed.

To the extent that we can help students with learning differences, we should. To the extent we can help kids have a better opportunity, we should. We should lift all schools here in our state, by giving caregivers educational choice.

The governor claims he wants to bring opportunity to “every corner of the commonwealth.” School choice would help in this effort. We are losing talent, tax dollars and a well-educated workforce to every state around Kentucky because we won’t open opportunities for ALL families.

EdChoice Kentucky, a nonprofit that aims to promote educational choice here in Kentucky, held an event in January to raise awareness of the need and benefit for caregivers to have the opportunity to choose the school that best fits their child’s needs.

Three students from Dream Center Academy Christian School in the West End of Louisville spoke about how their school has changed the trajectory of their life. How, in one student’s instance, it literally saved her life.

Nay Kaw, an immigrant from Thailand who found his way to the U.S. at the age of seven, spoke about learning English and the chance encounter with his ESL teacher that led to him attending the West End’s middle school boarding program, was later awarded a scholarship to Collegiate High School, then attended Berea College and is now employed by an accounting firm. I suspect these stories were not mentioned often because it doesn’t fit their rhetoric.

While we also have vast amount of research as to the benefits of educational choice, one thing my research includes is these stories. I personally visit schools like the Dream Center Academy Christian School and The Millard School in eastern Kentucky. As well as the Jubilee Academy in Oldham County, which serves students who can’t find an educational fit in a county that has good public schools.

Parental choice is the key to an improved educational system in Kentucky. It’s time we joined one team and support ALL Kentucky’s kids.

Moe Lundrigan is the president of EdChoice Kentucky.