Senators support school choice empowerment resolution and to make January 23-29, 2022, National School Choice Week.
U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) have joined colleagues to introduce a resolution designating January 23-29, 2022, as National School Choice Week. Wicker and Hyde-Smith also championed a separate measure which advocates for the right to school choice for families and parents.
“Parents have a fundamental right to shape their children’s education, and school choice is an important way to exercise that right,” Senator Wicker said. “Our children and future leaders deserve the best educational opportunities available, no matter their circumstances. At a time when public education is under siege from far-left identity politics and heavy-handed school closures, empowering parents to choose where their children go to school is all the more vital in developing the next generation of Americans.”
“With these resolutions, we promote the benefits of school choice and the need to strengthen the options available to families in Mississippi and across the nation. Parents should be allowed to direct their children to schools that best suit their needs, particularly as they weigh the stresses placed on education by the pandemic, the overt or covert introduction of controversial ideologies like Critical Race Theory, and intrusive government mandates,” Senator Hyde-Smith said.
U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the bipartisan National School Choice Week Resolution, which 26 Senators cosponsored. Click here to read the resolution.
“The pandemic has highlighted the challenges many families face when seeking a quality education for their children,” said Senator Scott. “The facts are simple: If we want to give children a greater chance in life, we must give parents a greater choice in education. A child’s destiny shouldn’t be determined by their zip code.”
Senators Scott and Feinstein were joined on the resolution by Senators Mike Braun (R-IN), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT.), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI.), James Lankford (R-OK), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Todd Young (R-IN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the school choice empowerment resolution, which 10 Senators cosponsored. Click here to read the resolution.
“Oklahoma families now enjoy even more education options with public school transfer, public charter, private, magnet, online, home school, and faith-based schools,” Senator Lankford said. “Options allow parents to select the best education option for each child. We must affirm the right of parents to protect their kids by having a voice in their education and continue to innovate toward more education opportunities that help all our kids succeed.”
The following organizations support the resolution: Heritage Action, ParentalRights.org, Center for Urban Renewal and Education, American Conservative Union, Faith and Freedom Coalition, Family Policy Alliance, American Association of Christian Schools, Association of Christian Schools International, First Liberty Institute, Alliance Defending Freedom, American Center for Law and Justice, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, and Family Research Council.
