Op-Ed: 20 years in public schools and school choice

For most of my career in public education, school choice was treated as a partisan issue. I served more than two decades as a public school teacher and school leader. During that time, I sat across the table from dozens of families whose children were struggling in the traditional school environment. Sometimes the issue was learning differences. Sometimes it was anxiety, bullying, or a teaching approach that simply didn’t fit how their child learned best. Parents asked, "What other options do we have?" Too often, I felt I didn’t have an answer. Like most educators, I believed deeply in public education. But I also knew the system could not be everything to every child. Families who could afford alternatives sometimes found them. Many others could not. For years, debates about school choice programs – vouchers, scholarships, or Education Savings Accounts – have largely divided along partisan lines. Many Repu