GOP gubernatorial nominee looks to flip blue state red: 'Oregonians are ready for change'
Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan relays recent polling data indicating she could become Oregon's first GOP governor in decades.
An Oregon-based parental rights group announced on Wednesday its "2023 Legislative Priorities" which aims to place greater emphasis on parents in Oregon’s K-12 education system.
The Oregon Moms Union set its "2023 Legislative Priorities" to include a "statewide open enrollment for public schools, elimination of the arbitrary 3% cap on public virtual charter schools, expand education savings accounts to start before college for parents pursuing non-public education options, guaranteed comprehensive parental rights in education, and require curriculum be available online for review by parents."
The Oregon Moms Union added that the "legislative concepts are in the process of development to be ready for the 2023 Legislative Session."
ARIZONA GOVERNOR SIGNED THE MOST EXPANSIVE SCHOOL CHOICE LEGISLATION IN THE NATION INTO LAW
Oregon Governor Kate Brown speaks at the state capital building in Salem, Oregon, February 20, 2015. (REUTERS/Steve Dipaola )
"Repeated statewide polling has shown that Oregonians of all political parties are ready to implement measures to expand school choice in Oregon," said MacKensey Pulliam, President of the Oregon Moms Union. "After years of saying ‘no’ to parents, it’s far time for elected leaders to find ways to say ‘yes.’"
The Oregon Moms Union’s announcement comes after Pulliam recently filed a petition to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to repeal the state's vaccine mandate.
Forming in early 2021, Oregon Moms Union was created in the wake of COVID-19 school shutdowns and distance learning. The group "seeks to empower parents to advocate for a student-first K-12 education system." The Oregon Moms Union currently has more than 90 volunteer School District Captains serving in more than 75 school districts.
Widespread calls for school choice and parental rights have emerged after states implemented lockdown measures during the coronavirus pandemic.
Many private schools stayed open while public school systems across the country closed in-person learning for entire semesters, even years, and remote learning lifted the veil to parents of what their kids were being taught in class.
Parents and community members attend a Loudoun County School Board meeting on June 22, 2021. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
School choice, or providing all families with alternatives to the public schools they’re zoned for, can be expanded through multiple avenues at the state level, including school voucher programs, tax-credit scholarship programs, individual tuition tax credit programs and deductions, and education savings accounts (ESAs). Charter schools, magnet schools, and homeschooling are also forms of school choice programs.
Republican governors made significant inroads in pushing school choice legislation in recent years with many bills including education savings accounts.
For instance, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee pushed education savings accounts after being thwarted for almost three years. Education savings sccounts in Tennessee would provide eligible families up to approximately $7,000 in public tax dollars on private schooling tuition and other pre-approved expenses.
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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed the most "monumental" education savings account program in the country, allowing savings accounts to have universal eligibility for all 1.1 million K-12 students in the state.
Fox News' Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.
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