4: The Heritage Foundation's Jason Bedrick: On the Future of Arizona School Choice and Parental Rights in Education

Grand Canyon Times

Phoenix resident Jason Bedrick, a research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, joined the Grand Canyon Times to discuss school choice and parents rights in education in Arizona.Jason’s work focuses on policies that promote education freedom and choice, religious liberty, classical education, and restoring the primary role of families in education. Jason is a former state legislator from New Hampshire and the co-editor and co-author of two books on education policy. For the last decade he has resided in Phoenix with his wife and five children.

Introduction:

• Jason Bedrick is introduced as a research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation. His work revolves around promoting education freedom, religious liberty, classical education, and emphasizing the primary role of families in education.
• Jason has co-authored two books on education and was a former New Hampshire state legislator.

Relocation to Arizona:

• Jason moved to Arizona about 10 years ago, primarily because of his wife's family being from there and Arizona's pioneering stance on education choice.

Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA):

• Jason explains that ESAs, known in Arizona as "empowerment scholarship accounts," allow families to receive the state portion of education funding. This funding can be used for various education expenses like private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, homeschool curricula, and more.
• ESAs differ from college savings accounts as they allow families to customize K-12 education for their children.

School Choice:

• Jason emphasizes the shift from school choice to education choice, highlighting the flexibility ESAs provide to families in choosing diverse learning environments for their children.

Importance of School Choice:

• Jason shares his personal experience, emphasizing the importance of religious education for his children and how states like Arizona empower families to make education decisions.

Comparison with Texas:

• Jason contrasts Arizona's success with school choice to Texas's slower adoption of similar policies. He mentions the challenges faced in rural areas and the misconceptions about school choice.

Testing and Accountability:

• Jason discusses the differences in testing between public schools and those in the private sector. He emphasizes a bottom-up approach to accountability in the private sector, where schools design their curriculum based on students' best interests and then choose tests that align with that curriculum.

“Gender” and School Policies:

• Jason discusses two bills vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.) related to so-called “gender” issues in schools: the "Given Name Act" and the "Arizona Accommodations for All Children Act." The former would require schools to address students by their given names or common nicknames, while the latter would provide separate accommodations for cross-dressing children.

Future Prospects for School Choice:

• Jason believes that these bills might be reintroduced in the future, but their success might depend on a change in leadership.