It might now cost less than you think

Parts of legislation passed during the 2021 Regular Legislative Session that are intended to improve school choice for parents and students are taking effect. Thanks to the new ability for a gaining school district to now get state SEEK money for out-of-district transfers – even if the losing district doesn’t want to share – costs to go to an out of district school can be much lower than they used to be.

A Northern Kentucky parent who sends his children to a different, top-performing district just messaged me a real-world example.

Previously, this parent was paying fairly high out-of-district tuition for these students.

Now, the parent has been pleasantly surprised to get a tuition bill for the forthcoming school year that is over $2,600 lower per student than last year. He was so shocked, he called the district to be sure there wasn’t a mistake. No mistake – the new availability of SEEK money allows serious reductions in parent costs.

The exact cost factors after this new change will vary by district, but you might be in for a pleasant surprise if you think your child would do better in a school outside of the district where you live. It might cost a lot less than you might think.

Clearly, this is a small, but important, improvement in Kentucky’s currently very limited school choice situation. Hopefully, the Kentucky Supreme Court will finally act to accept other parts of this legislation, House Bill 563 from the 2021 Regular Legislative Session, so parents of low to modest means can start to enjoy some private school choice options, as well.

After all, when you look at all the school reform efforts that have been under way in Kentucky and elsewhere for more than three decades, some of the most impressive advances for public schools have come in states, such as Florida, where the most school choice options are found.

Time has shown that trying to directly legislate change for public schools just doesn’t work that well. But legislation that creates competition does.