Dutcher: Oklahomans Deserve Preschool Choices
Oklahomans deserve preschool choices
By Brandon Dutcher 02/13/2013
“As more and more states embrace school choice,” I wrote in 2007, “it’s reasonable to believe Oklahoma will too.” Indeed, Oklahoma in 2010 enacted school choice for special-needs children, and in 2011 a tax credit for donations that help children afford private schools.
And coming off a successful National School Choice Week (the week of Jan. 27, which Gov. Mary Fallin also proclaimed to be School Choice Week in Oklahoma), I believe that educational freedom will continue to spread.
Parents should have the ability to choose for their children traditional public schools, charter schools, private schools, magnet schools, virtual schools, homeschooling or even a customized menu of options.
Here’s one idea I’m particularly fond of: Preschool choice.
Oklahoma is “the leader in early child care education,” The Oklahoman reported in its “Education & careers” supplement on April 29. In one sense, that’s true. Some Oklahoma public schools proudly offer “extended day care,” for example. Incredibly, some will even enroll your 6-week-old “student” in an “education” program whose “curriculum” encourages “language enrichment” and “problem solving.”