A novel idea for individual educational opportunities for school children and parents is currently stirring debate. President Bush has asked Congress to provide low-income children the opportunity to choose their education and make the most of it. The initiative builds upon the successful, popular D.C. School Choice Incentive reform that was passed in 2004 and provided school choice to 1,700 D.C. students annually.
In his State of the Union Address, the President proposed $300 million in a Pell Grants for Kids program to help the parents of poor children in underperforming schools afford the schools of their choice. Low-income college students have been successful with Pell Grants; this approach should therefore also benefit children across America in primary and secondary schools. Advocates of this new option believe we should apply this winning formula “to help liberate poor children trapped in failing public schools.”
Pell Grants for Kids will help low-income children fulfill their potential and obtain the best education possible in their communities. By implementing school choice, states will broaden the options offered to low-income children who are in failing schools. Parents will also gain more control over their children’s education.
Pell Grants have received widespread bipartisan support from its inception. The Pell Grant initiative, named after its founder, former Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), was created in 1972 to help undergraduates with their academic expenses. Since that time, members of Congress have lobbied to increase the number and size of the grants that students can use to attend the college of their choice. According to the Wall Street Journal, Pell Grants have increased dramatically since the start of the Bush Presidency, rising from 4.3 million students receiving $8.8 billion in 2000 to 5.3 million students receiving a total of $14 billion in 2007.
The Pell Grants program continues to grow. Currently, the initiative offers up to $4,731 per year to college students who qualify based on financial need to pay for academic expenses. The total amount allotted per student is expected to rise over the next few years to about $5,400 per year.
College students nationwide have championed and benefited from Pell Grants. Unlike student loans, Pell Grants do not have to be repaid. Rather, they are part of an overall financial package that consists of loans from state and federal sources and other sources of financial aid. College students are thus no longer saddled with high debt by the time they complete their education and are in the job market. These grants have helped so many college students complete their education and pursue their dreams. Without this much-needed assistance, many students would not have been able to become educated at the places of their choice and obtain the quality education best suited for their career goals.
It therefore makes sense to adopt a similar system for K-12 education. These grants would give low-income inner-city children who had little hope of finishing high school or going to college the opportunity to do so. A bright future for these children is now possible.
America is the land of plenty. As such, its citizens reap the bounty of its boundless choices in all facets of life. In education, the vast horizons offered by school choice should be available to all children—especially those most in need. As John Stuart Mill wisely noted, “the only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.” We should let children and their families pursue their own good in education. This opportunity scholarship concept has worked in the D.C. School Choice plan. Why not allow this opportunity for students from New York City to Atlanta to New Orleans to Los Angeles? Pell Grants for Kids does just that.
