Two Bills have been pre-filed for the 2022 legislative session to support school choice! It is up to us to raise support.
Introducing the 10 x 10 x 10 School Choice Campaign!
People x Time x Money = Happy Parents, Teachers and Children
Our goal is to recruit 10,000 people to support School Choice and raise $10,000 to champion the effort. After your sign up, please be sure to make a comment about what you like about the bills or what you might like see changed.
Get into action today! Follow the links below to make a donation or sign-up to say you support school choice or to volunteer.
School Choice gives the power back to the parents by letting them choose where their education tax dollars go. Did you know Washington spends about $17k, per year, per child? We want that money to follow the backpack!
Contact us at info@riseupwa.org with any questions or to get involved.
Please add your comments below after reading the bills.
Why School Choice?
Vicki Kraft, 17th LD
“We've seen how students have been affected this past year from a lack of education choices. Students should be allowed to be in a learning environment that works for them. This year alone, more than 32,000 Washington families have pulled out of the public-school system as they find that traditional zip-code assigned schools are simply not working for their children.”
Jim Walsh, 19th LD
“The time has come for bold reform of our K-12 funding system in Washington. I understand some people will hesitate at the size and ambition of this proposal. This plan is bold. It's a game-changer," said Walsh in a written statement. "It empowers Washington's kids and their families to have real school choice regardless of whether they're rich, poor, or — like most of us — somewhere in the middle. Finally, it will also help our public school districts become more efficient and productive.”
This needs to be shut down right now!! No more legislation!! Leave the homeschool and private school communities alone. We don’t want to even be mentioned in any legislation. We know how the government is, they take everything too far and legislate us to death. Vicki will lose a lot of supporters if she continues in with this.
If legislation is passed allowing the “money to follow the backpack” like New Hampshire and 18 other states have done, parents are free to opt out if they choose. That is the point-choice. They do not need to accept the funds. We will certainly do what we can to limit the “strings are attached” issue. It can be done and is being done in other states. But it will require the various stakeholder groups to be heard and collaborate.
There has been a surge in unenrollment this last year and yet the state keep our tax money. It is time that the money follows the student and not the system. Thanks for chiming in. -Michelle Darnell
What if the legislation was created to protect your right to homeschooling. Countries have been after families for decades and homescholling families have been a target.
Keep your eyes open to protect your right to direct your children’s learning.
I want to keep our freedom that means directing we the government in charge. Not the bureaucrats who think they
Please read Michelle’s comment. This is a voluntary bill for the parent. Doesn’t mention homeschooling. This bill will help those who can’t homeschool to make that choice, and help public schools by providing competition!
Thanks for making this happen! I wish this had happened 30 years ago but better late than never. So thankful to God for blessing both me and my children with the opportunity of a Christ-centered education.
Many wars have been fought for our right to choose what each individual and family believes is correct for them. Schools have list their way by forgetting the importance of a genuine education is about. Our future leaders need to be able to read, write and think critically….if anything the recent situation has taught us that critical thinking and questioning is lacking…anything that denies people their constitutional rights must be questioned.
Choice is imperative for all of our students! Taxpayer dollars are being wasted on our current public school system. The taxpayer dollars should follow the student to provide for the individual educational needs of each student. Clearly some safeguarding should happen to prevent government intrustion, but it’s important to remember that “government money” isn’t government money – it’s the PEOPLE’s money and we should have a say in how it is spent and we should also set up boundaries to prevent intrusion. Re-educating our lawmakers and citizens alike that the government only gets to do what we allow them to do will have to be included in this journey to school choice.
Parents have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children. This bill would give many families the resources they need to choose the school that best meets the needs of their child, including home schooling and private school. It expands options for families, and is completely voluntary. Washington lags behind other states in offering parents this option.