School choice is a hot-button issue for local school districts, parents and students. Glenn Delk’s op-ed in The American Spectator asked, why aren’t the GOP presidential candidates joining the fray and supporting education savings accounts (also known by the acronym ESAs)?
Education savings accounts allow low-income minority students to have access to better schools outside of their assigned school districts. They are education-specific savings accounts, through which taxpayers pay for vouchers for low-income students, and parents have the option to use the accounts to pay for books and tuition at private or public schools of their choice. Minorities in urban areas no longer have to go to low-performing urban public schools with ESA funds available.
It has taken off in the state of Arizona, and Nevada has also introduced one. Delk noted that one poll indicated that 70% of respondents support the concept of expanding school choice through creating education savings accounts. The noteworthy finding of the poll was that there was support, “regardless of political persuasion, economic class, or race.”
Delk concluded ESAs and that the support of ESAs will boost Republican prospects among minority voters.
