OPINION: School choice is the path to ensuring every child has a quality education

When my family moved to New Mexico before I started elementary school, my parents’ main concern was where they’d send me to school. They were already aware of the state’s poor public education — it’s long been known for its ranking as 50th in the nation.

They started me out in a public school, but moved me to a charter school for most of elementary and middle school because my local schools were low-performing and my parents were concerned about preparing me for high school and beyond. When I entered the eighth grade, I told my parents that I wanted to go to a public school for high school; I wanted the full experience with Friday night football games, homecoming and prom, and a large graduating class.

By that time we had moved into a new district that gave us access to a high school on the west side of Albuquerque: Volcano Vista. It is one of the best high schools in the city, and my entry to the school was solely dependent on my ZIP code.

Like my parents, many New Mexican families are losing sleep over where to send their children to school. They ask: Will my child be prepared for college? Will they be reading proficient? Will they be prepared to enter the workforce? Now that I’m a parent, those same questions are running through my mind.

New Mexico has tried to solve the problem with more funding and expanded pre-K programs, but to little effect. It’s time for state lawmakers to be bold. New Mexico must embrace school choice.

Our Southwestern neighbor, Arizona, recently created one of the largest school voucher programs in the country. With a new school year approaching, New Mexico lawmakers should consider adopting a similar program.

With school vouchers, students would be no longer bound to attend the public school according to their ZIP code, the money spent by the state on each K-12 student would instead be allocated to parents to put it toward a school of their choosing.

Critics argue that school choice would hurt already failed schools and create a selective group of private schools. But that’s the status quo: While wealthy parents send their children to expensive private schools, poor children, predominantly Hispanic and Black, are left with no alternative but to attend their often local low-performing school. School choice would create a market of competition with low-performing schools, pushing those schools to be better.

In fact, recent data have shown that school choice, specifically the presence of charter schools, has improved student educational outcomes in public schools, especially low-performing ones. Patrick Wolf from the University of Arkansas conducted 27 studies on competition from private-school choice; 25 of 27 of the studies showed improvement in public schools.

Enacting school choice will require a bipartisan coalition of voters and state lawmakers who are passionate about ensuring every New Mexican child a quality education. Meanwhile, we should raise teacher pay and continue to expand the number of charter schools across the state.

Charter schools give parents another option outside of a public or private school, but because of their popularity, they only offer a limited number of spots.

When my parents transitioned me from a public to a charter school, my entry was dependent on a lottery. That charter school today is among one of the best K-12 schools in the state. Hundreds of students in the state apply to attend the school but rely on luck to get in.

My lottery experience reminds me of students in the documentary, “Waiting for Superman.” The documentary portrays students of all races describing their experience with failed D.C. public schools and hoping to get into a charter school. In particular, an African American boy, who didn’t have his name drawn, shows the student’s and his grandmother’s reaction when they got off the waiting list; it was of jubilation and hope for a better future.

Instead of riding on a slim chance in a lottery, school choice will expand the American dream and guarantee every child hope for a brighter future.

I believe there’s nothing more pivotal for an individual for their future trajectory than their K-12 education. If New Mexico expands choice, rewards teachers for their hard work, and cares about giving every child a quality education, there’s nowhere else but up.

Hunter Thomas is a recent graduate of UNM Law, a Brigham Young University political science graduate, and a fellow at Young Voices.