Neighborhood Ministries

The Ohio House just introduced a bill to give parents more freedom to choose what school is best for their children. H.B. 290 (called the Backpack Bill) will give parents a voucher to take to whatever school they feel will best suit their children’s needs. When you buy a toaster or a refrigerator, you are free to buy it from any store you want. You are not required to buy it from the store near you, which may sell inferior merchandise or have high prices. Competition forces stores to give good merchandise at reasonable prices, or they go out of business. Parents should not be forced to send their kids to government schools that have poor quality education or wasteful spending, if there are better schools nearby. Many public schools get away with wasteful spending and poor quality education because parents don’t have much choice. Toasters and refrigerators don’t have any lasting effect on the kids but the school they attend may affect them for the rest of their life. Competition forces schools to be competitive and will result in better public schools if they want to stay in business. That will improve education for everyone, both those that choose private schools and those that remain in public schools. We need to put children’s education back in the hands of parents who know their child best.