A new school choice initiative has received the go ahead from the state to begin a signature drive to qualify for November 2022 ballot.
The Educational Freedom Act Initiative will need one million signatures to qualify for 2022 midterm election. If approved, parents in California could chose which schools their children attend. "Today marks the culmination of three years of hard work from our dedicated network of grassroots supporters that created this real movement for true school choice reform," said Mike Alexander, Chair, Californians for School Choice. "Under the Educational Freedom Act students would be able to attend any accredited private or religious school of their choice and save any money left over for college, vocational training or other qualified expense."
California currently has nearly 6.6 million K-12 students. Six million attend public schools, 471,000 attend private schools and another 84,000 homeschooled. Under the Educational Freedom Act an Educational Savings Account (“ESA”) will be established upon request for each K-12 child in California.