School Choice: What to Know About the Choices Local Families Have in K-12 Education
Parental choice – it’s one of the most buzzed about phrases facing the education system today and helps underscore that parents and caretakers remain the ultimate decision makers when it comes to their child’s learning journey.
While politicians and politically motivated activist groups allude to a growing “loss” of choice, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Our state offers some of the most robust choice for families. The fact is, the choice topic has surfaced BECAUSE it’s a keyword that helps to rally support for Michigan’s latest voucher scheme called Let Mi Kids Learn and Student Opportunity Scholarships. The word aids the voucher proponents in manufacturing a crisis.
What the voucher petitioners fail to mention is that parents have – and always had – plenty of choice in Michigan, including right here in Kent County’s Intermediate School District (ISD). The Kent ISD includes Forest Hills Public Schools and over 400 schools within 20 of the county’s distinct school districts.
1 in 5 Students Utilize Schools of Choice
Forest Hills Public Schools, as part of Kent County’s Intermediate School District (ISD) participates in the county’s Schools of Choice plan.
The Kent ISD expands on what this opportunity entails for local families:
“There are many options for quality education within Kent ISD. Our School of Choice plan is designed to provide the best possible education for the vast majority of families who choose their home district, while accommodating those who would like to transfer to another school.”
Given the above, it’s important to acknowledge that whether a family’s choice is based on geographical convenience, access to special education programs, stronger athletic programs, or potential academic outcome – they have choices and, in our community alone, they have hundreds of options. In fact, more than one in five Michigan kids already make such choices.
Additionally, families have choices within their own Forest Hills Public Schools. There are options including:
Placing specific educator or classroom requests with the school for the next school year.
Opting out of lessons and content. FHPS believes in a “no surprises” policy and gives parents advanced notice about options to sit their child out or provide alternative content for lessons on sex ed, history, or other topic areas intended for the general population. Students are sent (and resent) home permission sheets that give adults easy ways to opt children out of such content at the time of enrollment and with advanced notice before a lesson.
Placing a restriction list with the student’s library for titles or content. The Kent ISD conveniently provides a searchable database with keywords and phrases parents can use to make choices.
Opportunities to volunteer with schools and join parent-teacher committees.
Joining supplemental opt-in programs and clubs, like ProjectNEXT or Gone Boarding.
Considerations for Special Education and Schools of Choice
Private schools that are part of a voucher program are not required to provide Special Education evaluations or services. They are not required to employ qualified special education teachers nor develop or implement Individual Education Programs (IEPs), unlike what the State of Michigan requires for its Schools of Choice program.
If students who need special education or other accommodations that the private voucher schools are unable to meet, they will most likely end up returning to their neighborhood schools even if their initial enrollment is accepted.
With misinformation and disinformation abound during this mid-term election and voucher petition cycle, it’s important to continue presenting facts. Parents and caretakers will always have choices involving their child’s education and remain hands-on along the journey.