The tenth post in a series, we address the ninth most common school choice myth in Iowa:
Myth Number 9: Any expansion of school choice will hurt rural schools.
We’ve never seen this play out in other states with programs or in other nations with universal school choice (which is commonplace in Europe and other parts of the world). It is a fear without a basis. Most rural districts have fewer (many times zero) options outside of the local public school district or homeschooling.
If a rural district “can’t afford” to lose a family or two to another option, that is a separate issue that shouldn’t preclude every other family in the state wanting or needing another option from having one. There are multiple solutions for rural districts struggling to survive and maintain their identity and denying children opportunity and disrespecting the rights and role of parents shouldn’t be one of those solutions. Most importantly, however, is that there hasn’t been a demonstrable threat to rural public schools even if we pass a gold-standard universal ESA bill right out of the gate. It simply hasn’t been an issue anywhere else. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of beautiful stories about rural public and private school options working together for the betterment of their communities.
Interested in diving into all ten myths? You can read the full article here. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest developments in our effort to ensure every child has access to the educational environment that best meets their needs.