Celebrate School Choice Every Day

January 29, 2021

We may be coming to the end of National School Choice Week, but we’re just beginning to set kids up for success this year.

As Goldwater Institute President and CEO Victor Riches said at the start of this week, “School choice is all about giving parents access to more options that fit their child’s unique learning needs.” At the Goldwater Institute, we’re so proud to lead a nationwide effort to make educational freedom a reality for more Americans. Several years ago, we pioneered the idea of education savings accounts (ESAs), which let families take a portion of funds already being used on their children’s education and instead using that money to pay for the education and teaching tools that best help their children learn. Students in six states are currently benefiting from ESAs—and we’ll keep working in 2021 to give more students access to this game-changing program.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it more than clear that when it comes to education, families need flexibility. The large-scale move to virtual education has left countless students and families in a lurch, and this “new normal” just isn’t working for them. It’s undeniable that the pandemic’s impact on education has had devastating consequences for America’s students.

But having more options, more avenues, and more choices helps to smooth these disruptions so families can adapt. As Arizona mom and Love Your School founder Jenny Clark told the Goldwater Institute earlier this year, for instance, having an ESA helped her children acclimate to COVID-19’s education challenges more easily. Every child and their family, no matter where they live, ought to have those kinds of choices—both during the pandemic and after.

School choice is worth celebrating every day, because it’s making an amazing difference in students’ and families’ lives every day. The Goldwater Institute is committed to expanding educational freedom to more families, so more students can get an education that fits their specific needs and helps them learn.