ENDORSEMENT: Senator Mike Lee’s CHOICE Act Gives Opportunity to American Families

January 25, 2023

Education choice is fundamentally a parental rights issue. PDE Action firmly believes that all parents—regardless of their socioeconomic status—have the right to make the best educational decisions for their children. Today, we are proud to announce our support for Senator Mike Lee’s “Children Have Opportunities in Classrooms Everywhere” (CHOICE) Act. 

The CHOICE Act would give low-income families direct access to the federal dollars spent on their child’s education through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It would give parents—not bureaucrats—the right and responsibility to spend this funding on the education option they think best serves the needs of their child. Parents would be able to direct the funding to their child’s local public school, or to a 529 savings account that they could then use to fund private school or homeschooling. 

Additionally, this bill would force public schools to better the services they provide to families. No longer would public school administrators be able to take for granted the taxpayer dollars they receive each year. Neither would they be able to take for granted the parents and families they serve. Schools have increasingly sought to exclude parents from vital conversations about their child’s education, wellbeing, and health at school. Giving parents the option to go elsewhere would help ensure that parents are treated as the willing and careful consumers that they are, instead of cogs in the wheel of education bureaucracy. 

The income of a parent should not restrict the educational opportunities available to a child. All children deserve an equal opportunity to a robust education—and if their public school does not provide it, then their parents have the right and responsibility to seek other options. The CHOICE Act would give low-income families this power. PDE Action applauds Senator Lee’s commitment to improving the education and the lives of America’s children.

Download this press release here.