DeVos Promotes Vouchers for Military Families

Published April 5, 2017

While visiting Fort Bragg this week, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said her department will explore the idea of giving military families more options for educating their children. The News & Observer has the story:

During her meeting with parents and teachers at the Kimberly Hampton Primary School, at least one parent told her he would welcome the chance to send his older children to a private high school that matches the quality of the base schools.

The Department of Defense runs eight schools on and near Fort Bragg that enroll 4,044 children from pre-kindergarten to middle school. High school students enroll in public school in surrounding districts.

The local high schools “don’t necessarily work for every child,” said DeVos, an ardent school-choice supporter.

DeVos mentioned a bill filed by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina that would start a pilot program to allow children on Department of Defense bases that do not have schools run by the department to use federal vouchers worth up to $8,000 a year for elementary school and $12,000 a year for high school.

“We’ll be looking very closely at supporting policies like that,” DeVos said.

DeVos’ support for school choice is encouraging. What would be even more encouraging would be her support for school choice at the state level, getting the federal government out of education altogether.

SOURCE: The News & Observer


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