Congressmen Spar Over Effectiveness of School Choice Programs

Education funding should be given to students through their parents, not to institutions, witnesses testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 18.
The committee hearing examined the merits of school-choice programs, one of which is currently under consideration.  H.R. 531, the Educational Choice for Children Act, would create a tax credit for donations to nonprofit organizations providing education scholarships for elementary and secondary students.
“The surest remedy to accountability for these dollars is to fund students via parents rather than schools,” Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), appearing before the committee as a witness, told members.
“In K-12 education, students are assigned to a school that is closest to where their parents can afford to live, even if that school is a poor fit. It is time to break the link between housing and schooling and fund families directly just as we do in every other aspect of American life,” said Lindsey Burke, director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation….}