Several states in the country have set their school system up so that two factors determine quality of education: zip code and income. I beg to ask, why should we allow these two arbitrary fac tors to impact a child’s education? Do children not have a right to a fair and solid education in the United States? This is why we have public schools, but those public schools can vary in quality based on funding, the consistency of faculty or staff, the class offerings, and population. Because of this, some students might make excellent memories receiving an excellent education in one school system, while other students may deal with teachers who are mostly unavailable to talk with personally, through no fault of their own, and might experience bullying as well. I am not arguing that all public schools are terrible. I was quite happy with my public elementary, middle and high schools in Tennessee that I attended while my mother and sister could study psychology at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. They were my fit at the time. However, I am arguing that to assist parents under financial constraints, it is just for the state to offer to grant funding for their child’s education if they choose to attend a non-traditional public school.

School choice has been implemented in a variety of ways. New Hampshire, for example, has championed school choice. The Department of Education currently offers education freedom accounts. Parents with incomes at up to three times the poverty line or below can apply to receive state funding for their child’s education from Kindergarten through senior year of high school. Currently, US news ranks New Hamp-
shire among the top four states for Pre-K through 12th grade education. In the granite state, students can attend traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, parochial schools, or be homeschooled. The state will support the decision, nonetheless.

There are some counter arguments to be made against school choice. Some say that this is defunding public schools and hurting teachers. Moving state funding towards children attending alternative schools creates the risk of lowering teacher salaries. Currently, determining teachers’ salaries is a process left within the school districts. Often, it is negotiated with the teacher who is considering working in the given
district. Unless the district decides to punish teachers for the passing of school choice, it should not be seen as a threat. Besides this, government handling of education should look to the future, which is in our children. Usually, teachers choose to teach because they see the merit of their job for the children. Many will thrive in the public school system, but that does not mean that all would thrive. Another objection is that it would infringe on the separation of church and state, because money would be directed towards
religious schools. Does this mean that if a hurricane went into New Hampshire and destroyed a great
deal of buildings, that FEMA and the state could not assist in aiding the religious institutions whose
properties were destroyed in this natural disaster? The separation of church and state is carried out for the sake of the people and their religions, not for the sake of the state. Plenty of bigoted decisions, such as the Blaine Amendment enacted in several state constitutions that prohibited state funding of religiously affiliated institutions, have been carried out in the name of separation of church and state, especially in the then anti-Catholic south. Imagine how many innocent people this hurt and how many opportunities were lost.

After going through the application process and figuring out financial aid, I began school at Bishop Brady High School in the second quarter on November 1st, 2017. To this day, I am thankful that I made this decision. Because I went to a private Catholic school, I found a community where I could start learning what it meant to be Catholic. It was through this school that I discovered Saint Anselm College. I cannot imagine how my life would be without Bishop Brady. I am so fortunate that my mother could take up the cross of paying for a private education, but I hope those who are less able will get similar opportunities to make their children’s lives easier, thanks to school choice. That is how much of a difference it could make in a student’s life.