School choice for rural areas – It might be a better deal than you think

Kentuckians have heard a lot about how school choice will leave out, maybe even hurt, rural school systems in the state. But, a new article from a similar state, School choice would benefit rural students in Georgia, says that conditions there are very different from what people assume goes on in rural school districts. Comments in that article are worth your time to consider.

A key comment says a recent report from the Heritage Foundation says:

“About seven in 10 rural families nationwide live within 10 miles of a private elementary school.”

Some key findings in that Heritage report, Rustic Renaissance: Education Choice in Rural America, by Jason Bedrick and Matthew Ladner include: 

1.      Rural areas have far more education options than education choice critics claim—from private schools and charter schools to microschools and virtual learning.

2.      States with robust education choice policies have seen a significant increase in education options in rural areas.

3.      Expanding education choice does not harm rural school districts. Indeed, the best evidence suggests education choice policies spur rural schools to improve.

Overall, Kentucky’s failure to join other states with more modern policies for school choice has really held the state’s students back, even in our public schools. We discuss that in our report, Florida Versus Kentucky: School choice improves public school performance, too, which shows choice-rich Florida’s public schools have significantly outperformed Kentucky’s since Floridians adopted major school choice programs.

Kentucky’s students need and deserve choice, even in rural areas.