(Editor’s note: The author is running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives. We will occasionally publish op-eds from all the Republican and Democrat congressional candidates.)
Dr. Rich McCormick
The men and women of our armed services already sacrifice tremendously for our country and shouldn’t have to worry that their kids aren’t getting the best education. Here in Georgia, we have the opportunity to alleviate some of the stress military families feel. Legislation in the Georgia Senate to create “promise scholarships” would do exactly that for Georgia’s military families.
Promise scholarships offer military families the freedom and flexibility to determine what’s best for their kids by offering families $6,000 to choose the best educational path for them. That might be private school, a homeschooling program, special needs therapies or the cost of transportation to a new school. This is an innovative school choice program that gives military families the power to do what’s best for them.
For the families of our brave U.S. military service members, every day is a sacrifice. They move around frequently and adjust to living on base, all while dealing with the stress of their loved ones’ strenuous work schedules or deployment. For many military families, educating their children on top of these daily challenges can feel like a herculean task. It is especially difficult when— like me– you have seven children.
Every parent knows that the key to strong education is stability, but stability is hard to come by for military families. According to the USO, military families move on average every one to two years. During my time in the military, I served at 28 different duty stations from Afghanistan to Korea to the Persian Gulf and dozens of locations around the United States.
Moving that frequently mean kids have to adjust to a new school, find new friends, and catch up academically every one to two years. Moving around to varying school districts with varying standards – and varying quality – is a constant hassle that ultimately puts the children of our nation’s heroes at a disadvantage. This issue is impacting families across Georgia. According to 2018 research from the Department of Defense, Georgia is home to over 65,000 active-duty military personnel from every branch of the armed services. That means from Moody AFB to Dobbins AFB, from Ft. Benning to Ft. Gordon and everywhere in between, military kids are struggling to get the education they deserve. Promise scholarships are an opportunity to offer real school choice everywhere in Georgia. Across the country, there is a strong, bipartisan desire for school choice. According to Gallup, a majority of the country consistently reports being dissatisfied with their public education. According to a poll by Real Clear Opinion Research, roughly 3-in-4 Americans support a school choice program.
The reason for that popularity is simple. School choice gives parents access to funding that empowers their kids with a wide variety of educational institutions, from online learning to homeschooling to the various hybrid models that are springing up every day. Rather than forcing kids into schools that are failing or that don’t make sense for their individual situation, school choice puts parents in the drivers’ seat of their child’s education.
Georgia is a state that prides itself on supporting our military, so now is the chance to put those principles into action. Statewide school choice programs would redirect funding that would otherwise be wasted on failing schools and give it to qualified citizens of our state to use in educational options of their choosing. For military families, this would help them provide a stable education for their child in the midst of their unpredictable situations.
Before adjourning, the Georgia General Assembly should take up the issue of school choice and give promise scholarships serious consideration.
Dr. Rich McCormick, USMC (ret.), USN (ret.), is a Republican candidate for Georgia’s 6th District U.S. House of Representatives seat.
