Texas parents told the country that they want more education options for their children.
When the state opened applications for its new Education Freedom Accounts, Texas’s version of school choice, more than 42,000 families applied on day one. That is the largest single-day school choice launch in American history. By the time the window closed, over 241,000 applications had come in for 90,000 available spots.
That leaves 151,000 students still waiting.
The Texas Education Freedom Account program launched with $1 billion in state funding. But funding alone does not create this kind of response. Parents do.
These are families who know their children and what is working for them. They did not wait to be told how to feel about their options. They applied because they wanted something different.
Critics of school choice often argue that most families are satisfied and the rest should adjust. 241,000 student applications challenge that claim.
The school district in Houston is now closing schools because enrollment is falling. Families are leaving. It is a decision parents are making one at a time, for their own reasons, about their own kids.
As a public school principal, I worked closely with parents and teachers to support students who did not fit in the traditional system. Some students needed academic support, others needed more challenges. Some needed help with negative behavior, others needed help with their shyness. With school choice, instead of fighting for their child’s needs, parents can find options that fit.
No parent filled out that application thinking about the politics of school choice. They were thinking about their child. The one who needs a different pace. The one who learns differently. The one for whom the current model is simply not a fit.
That is a parent doing their job.
Texas showed the country what happens when you trust parents. The response was immediate and overwhelming.
Parents already know what they want for their children. Legislators in Texas and many other states should fund every student, not just the lucky few.
