OCPA

n recent years, most Democratic lawmakers have opposed school-choice programs that allow parents to use their tax dollars to send a child to private school rather than keep the child in a local public school. But during a recent legislative debate, two Oklahoma Democrats admitted that many Oklahoma public schools are failing students badly, particularly children with special needs, and said that threats of lawsuits and federal sanctions are routinely necessary to force Oklahoma public schools to provide legally required services. “I’m here to tell you, there’s state schools that aren’t going to follow the federal law,” said state Rep. Aletia Timmons, D-Oklahoma City.

A local advocate says the two Democrats are right, and that’s one reason so many families of children with learning challenges have embraced Oklahoma’s school-choice programs. “It’s both/and,” said Lucia Frohling, director of parent services at Oklahoma Parents for Student Achievement. “We want great public schools, of course. But when it’s not working, parents and students should not have to be stuck in a place that does not work for them and is actually detrimental to their child’s emotional well-being as well as their academic well-being.”