School Choice Supporters Rally at the Oklahoma Capitol
School Choice Supporters Rally at the Oklahoma Capitol
by Patrick B. McGuigan, CapitolBeatOK.com
OKLAHOMA CITY – A diverse crowd of parents and education-reform activists arrived at the State Capitol on Tuesday (March 1) to celebrate the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships program. They spent the day encouraging lawmakers to back additional School Choice measures. The rally was organized by ChoiceMatters for Kids, an organization of parents supporting Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).
Henry scholarships are now used by hundreds of Oklahoma parents who have children with special needs. Each parent or guardian in the program is allowed to redirect several thousand dollars of their taxes to help pay for tuition at private schools.
Parents, educators and elected officials who spoke at the rally all said the Henry scholarships benefit children whose needs are not met by local public schools.
“Not only are the Lindsey Nicole Henry scholarships changing lives, they’re saving lives,” said Jennifer Vaught, head administrator at Trinity School, a faith-based school in Oklahoma City.
Vaught said that children with special needs and issues like dyslexia “need specialized programs and specialized teachers” that often are not available in their local public school.