By Sara Myer, Esq.
Again this week, we are honored to have East Parent Ambassador Regional Coordinator, Sara Myer, continue her guest blog on school choice, this time approaching it from her perspective as a lawyer:
As a Legal Professional
Sometimes instead of thinking about school choice as a parent, I think about school choice as a lawyer. When I think about school choice in legal terms, the most important issue becomes not how this model operates in my own family dynamic, but rather the legal foundation of school choice in our state. I ask myself, "What law grants me the right to choose to educate my children at PA Virtual? What were our state lawmakers’ intentions in granting Pennsylvanians the right to choose cyber school as an alternative to brick and mortar public school?"
The Pennsylvania school code, in section 1327, states: “It is the policy of the Commonwealth to preserve the primary right and obligation of the parent or parents, or person or persons in loco parentis to a child, to choose the education and training for such child.”
To choose the education and training
The primary right and obligation
Those are decisive and empowering phrases! In Pennsylvania, parents not only have the right, but also the obligation, to choose how to educate our children. Certainly, we may choose to educate them in the public school system, as the majority of parents in our state do. But our state legislature has endowed us with the right to select an alternative means to educate our children. We are not bound by the zip code we live in. We are not bound by the income we earn. We are not bound by brick and mortar public schools that either cannot or will not meet the unique needs of our children. We have a choice. We have school choice. And I am so very grateful for that choice and the positive impact it has had on my family.
Thank you, Sara, for sharing your perspective with us.
Do you have another perspective on school choice that you would like to share? Please comment below!
