House Bill 2933 would establish the Education Choice Scholarship Program
A bill introduced Thursday in the state House of Representatives by Rep. Vicki Kraft would create a new scholarship program, enabling parents to enroll their child in a school of their choice.
House Bill 2933 would establish the Education Choice Scholarship Program. Kraft says she sponsored the bill to provide options for parents who want a better education for their children than what is currently offered.
“Many parents are expressing to me their frustrations with the teachings of public schools, much of which is mandated by the Legislature and backed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, which does not reflect their values — comprehensive K-12 sex education among those. They want options other than what is now available for their children,” said Kraft, R-Vancouver. “This legislation would allow parents to opt out of the public K-12 education system and enroll their children elsewhere.”
Kraft says the bill would provide the same dollars that are currently allowed for a public school student.
“Those dollars would be put into a scholarship account to be used by the parent for a private school or home-based instruction of their choice,” said Kraft.
“I’m a big proponent of alternatives. I’m introducing this bill to provide other opportunities for parents to have full choice of what they want their children to learn,” added Kraft.
Kraft says school choice is becoming very popular, pointing to President Trump’s State of the Union speech Feb. 4 in which he said “18 states have created school choice in the form of opportunity scholarships.” Trump noted that “tens of thousands of students remain on waiting lists” for the program.
“The time is now to bring this same opportunity of parental choice to Washington state. Let’s allow parents to decide what’s best for their children, not government, and pass this legislation,” Kraft added.
Kraft invites parents to contact their legislators on the Toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and ask them to pass House Bill 2933.Information provided by Washington State House Republican Communications, houserepublicans.wa.gov
