This week Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma announced that he may use some of Oklahoma’s Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) money to support students who are enrolled in private schools. He would do this by allocating part of the funds to support the Oklahoma Equal Educational Opportunity Scholarship.
If Governor Stitt decides to support the tax-credit scholarship, he will be setting a precedent that other governors could follow to equitably care for students and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oklahoma Equal Educational Opportunity Scholarship serves students who live at or below 300% of free and reduced-priced lunch guidelines and students who are assigned to schools that the state has designated “in need of improvement.” This program—and others like it—serve some of our nation’s most vulnerable students and families, and strategic support from governors can help these families recover from this crisis.
Across the country, private schools serve millions of low- and middle-income students. Because of the pandemic, many parents will be unable to afford tuition, and philanthropists may be less able to support scholarships that help low and middle-income children access private schools. Private schools are at risk of closure unless leaders act. Saving the country’s private schools isn’t about supporting private education or the institutions that support them; it’s about uplifting students and families in times of crisis.
There are consequences when students switch schools. Mobile students are more likely to suffer from decreased academic performance and self-perception. One study found that children who switch schools even once between kindergarten and eighth grade are twice as likely to drop out of high school. If this isn’t scary enough, high student mobility impacts non-mobile students as well. States and school districts know that when schools have high a rate of students moving in and out of a school (known as a churn rate) teachers are less able to progress through curricula at a reasonable pace without leaving students behind. As a result, overall academic achievement suffers. Graduation rates decline, too.
Miami-Dade, one of the largest school districts in the country, provides an example. If just 10% of the students currently enrolled in private schools in Miami return to the district, Miami’s public schools would have to absorb 6,000+ new students. Schools would increase in size and classes might, too. Facilities could be strained. The state and city would have to find a combined $56 million dollars to support those students coming from private schools. Of course, these negative impacts pale in comparison the trauma that students will endure.
The COVID-19 pandemic has already shifted our economy, and it will uproot some families no matter what state leaders do. Children will feel the impacts of that instability acutely. Schools are a constant for children. For some, school is the only constant they know.
There are specific steps governors could consider taking to ensure all students can remain in the school of their choice – even if they don’t choose a public school.
AskExcelinEd: How Saving Private Schools Will Uplift Students in a Time of Crisis
