Education

School Choice Initiatives Crushed While Measure To Lower Testing Standards Gets Green Light

(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Jaryn Crouson Contributor
Font Size:

Three ballot initiatives supporting school choice programs failed to pass Tuesday, while one state successfully slashed a testing requirement for high school graduation.

Colorado’s Amendment 80 failed to enshrine a right to school choice into the state’s constitution while Amendment 2 in Kentucky and Referendum 435 in Nebraska failed to provide funding to students attending non-public schools, according to the New York Times. Massachusetts succeeded in shooting down the state’s requirement for standardized testing in order for high schoolers to receive a diploma.

Nebraska’s referendum repealed a tax scholarship program that allowed tax dollars to support students attending non-public schools, according to the bill’s text. Adjusting for the election results, 28 states offer some form of school choice support, according to Mountain States Policy Center. (RELATED: Red State Supreme Court Delivers Crushing Blow To School Choice Program)

PHOENIX - NOVEMBER 4: Children look at a polling place located at their school in the home state of Republican presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) November 4, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. Voting is underway in the U.S. presidential elections with Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) leading in the polls against the Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Children look at a polling place located at their school in the home state of Republican presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) November 4, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

School choice has gained popularity among Americans as a way to get children out of failing public schools. Over 80% of both Democrats and Republicans support these measures, according to an October 2023 poll by the Yes. Every Kid. Foundation.

Allowing parents a say in the education their children receive has been shown to narrow the performance gap between low-income students and their peers, with one study finding that every major city that serves a majority low-income students saw rises in achievement when a third or more students were enrolled in charter schools, according to the Progressive Policy Institute. Nonwhite students were among the biggest beneficiaries of these programs.

The approval of Massachusetts’ ballot measure replaces a requirements for standardized state testing and instead allows students to graduate “by satisfactorily completing coursework that has been certified by the student’s district as showing mastery of the skills, competencies, and knowledge contained in the state academic standards and curriculum frameworks,” according to the law’s text.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Premium Article: Subscribe for $1 to read the rest.

Continue Reading

A membership will get you:

  • News. Full access, entirely ad-free.
  • Documentaries. Full library.
  • Newsletters. Insigthful and thoughtful opinions.
  • Change. Replace the corporate media by supporting our mission.
Terms & Conditions

Please create a free account to continue reading.

Sign Up

Terms & Conditions
Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service

You're signed up!
Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service

You're signed up!

Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service

You're signed up!
Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service

You're signed up!
Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service

Sign up

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service

BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel