Amendment 2 could be a win for Kentucky’s education system | Opinion

Kentuckians may prefer their bourbon neat, but the debate over educational choice has been anything but smooth.

This November, voters will decide on Amendment 2, a hotly contested state constitutional measure that could open the door for lawmakers to bring educational choice to the Commonwealth. Amendment 2 would not create charter schools or educational choice funding, but would allow a future legislature to enact such educational options. Supporters argue school choice can level the playing field, giving more families access to the learning environments that best fit their children’s needs. Opponents, however, warn that it could weaken public schools and strain the state budget.

Fortunately, decades of rigorous research on educational choice provides evidence about what education freedom could mean for Kentucky.

Of the 74 studies conducted on the fiscal effects of educational choice, 68 found these programs generate net fiscal benefits for taxpayers. Two separate analyses of school choice programs in Iowa and New Hampshire project long-term savings of tens of millions of dollars for taxpayers in each respective state.

But fiscal savings aren’t the only advantage of educational choice. Public schools actually become stronger. Twenty-six of the 29 studies that analyzed the impact of private educational choice on traditional public school student test scores found a positive impact. These results can be attributed to better matches between students and their learning environments and the competitive effects of choice.

But the benefits go beyond test scores. School choice also improves our democracy in ways that standardized test scores and other traditional educational metrics may not reflect. Such findings aren’t surprising given the private school civics advantage over public schools, evidenced by a recent meta-analysis.

A recent study found that all schools of choice—charters, private schools, home schools, and more—also improve tolerance of other ideas and opinions, improve civil discourse, and empower students to build fruitful social networks within their community. Simply put, school choice teaches and encourages more students to become better citizens and help democracy.

Nevertheless, the benefits of educational choice are out of reach for many families in Kentucky. A recent survey from 50CAN and Edge Research revealed that 4 in 10 Kentucky parents feel they have no real choice in where their child attends school, and more than half are dissatisfied with their current school. An educational choice plan, like those serving over a million children in other states, that gives parents the financial means to customize an education for their children would be an important step in providing a greater number of more effective options for Commonwealth families. Kentucky children deserve the right to educational options, too.

It would even make parents more satisfied with their school. The importance of this relationship goes far beyond merely keeping parents happy for their own sake. Indeed, there is a burgeoning research literature finding that students whose parents are happy with their school and education tend to have much better long-run outcomes. These outcomes include college preparation and a host of social-emotional characteristics. In other words, kids with satisfied parents are much more likely to be more productive, more effective citizens. Educational choice lifts up families; when children are happy and succeeding, the whole family benefits from this positive energy.

As Kentucky looks to the future, it can also look to the data showing states with long-standing school choice programs have seen positive outcomes, often at a lower cost and without the negative impact on public schools that critics frequently suggest. By empowering parents with more educational options, choice can help ensure the next generation of students are prepared as they become our future leaders.

Cooper Conway is a Research Assistant for the Fiscal Research and Education Center at EdChoice. Garion Frankel is a Ph.D. student in PK-12 educational leadership at Texas A&M University.