The Heritage Foundation has released the latest version of its Education Freedom Report Card, and the Old Dominion is not faring particularly well.
Virginia rose three spots overall from 2023, but still sits at 19th in the rankings. However, it fell two spots in the “education choice” category, and now sits near the bottom of the country at 39th overall.
“Virginia does fairly well in empowering families to choose among private schools but could do much more to expand education choice,” the report card notes. “Virginia could improve its ranking by enacting a K–12 education savings account (ESA) policy, expanding eligibility for and boosting participation in its existing private education choice policy.”
Virginia has one small education choice program on the books, the Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program, which launched in 2013 and offers a 65 percent tax credit to individuals and businesses to donate to qualified scholarship foundations. The foundations then provide private school scholarships to students whose family household income is less than 300 percent of the federal poverty line. Only 44 percent of children across the commonwealth are eligible for the program.
Copious empirical research on school choice programs such as ESAs makes clear these programs offer families improved access to high-quality schools that meet their children’s unique needs and circumstances, and that these programs improve academic performance and attainment while delivering a quality education at lower cost than traditional public schools.
Additionally, education choice benefits public school students and taxpayers by increasing competition, decreasing segregation, and improving civic values and practices. Research also shows students at private schools are less likely than their public school peers to experience problems such as alcohol abuse, bullying, drug use, fighting, gang activity, racial tension, theft, vandalism, and weapon-based threats. There is also a strong causal link suggesting private school choice programs improve the mental health of participating students.
Not only are education choice programs good policy, they are also broadly popular. EdChoice’s Public Opinion Tracker, last updated on October 8, shows 69 percent of all Virginia adults and 75 percent of Virginia parents with school-aged children are in favor of ESA programs.
Further, a universal ESA program is sorely needed in the Old Dominion because the state’s public schools are habitually failing Virginia’s children. In 2022, only 38 percent of Virginia’s public school fourth-graders and 31 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” to grade level in mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) examination, colloquially known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” Just 32 percent of fourth-graders and 31 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” in reading. Essentially, and embarrassingly, the state’s public schools are failing to educate roughly seven out of 10 Virginia children to grade-level proficiency in reading and math.
The goal of public education in Virginia today and in the years to come should be to allow all parents to choose which schools their children attend, require every school to compete for every student who walks through its doors, and make sure every child has the opportunity to attend a quality school that best fits their unique needs and circumstances. There has not been a time when providing these opportunities has been more urgent and more needed than right now, but unfortunately the school choice wave is threatening to pass Virginia by.
Simply put, states with robust and expansive school choice programs will be more attractive to families who have the ability to migrate to the state of their choosing. How many will decide against moving to Virginia because it doesn’t offer their children the opportunity to attend the school that best suits their educational needs? Legislators should recognize this and enact a universal ESA program, allowing all current and future Virginians as many options as possible to get their children the education they need and deserve.
Heartland Impact can send an expert to your state to testify or brief your caucus; host an event in your state; or send you further information on a topic. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance! If you have any questions or comments, contact Cameron Sholty, at csholty@heartlandimpact.org or 312/377-4000.
