Originally published to the Sun Journal - April 2nd, 2022
Currently funding for school in Maine is limited to public schools. But if the funding followed the individual student, that would allow families to have their children attend the schools that best fit their academic and social and emotional needs. Many students do better when they attend a private school rather than a public school.
My son attends MEVA, or the Maine Virtual Academy. This enables him to complete his classes online at home.
This has worked well for him. During COVID he has not missed a step. He still interacts with teachers and students online. Being autistic, he found the social and academic expectations difficult in the classroom setting. We have sought to find other ways to provide healthy socialization for him.
Although MEVA is considered a public school, it is a choice that has been allowed for my son, and it has benefited him. The choice of attending private schools should also be allowed, and that choice should include funding that enables a student to attend the school of their choice.
Healthy competition between companies raises the quality of the products that are produced. If parents had funding to choose what is best for their children, I believe that this would result in a rise in the quality of education in the state.
In the long run, this would likely decrease the taxpayer costs of education as well, since many private schools function on a lower budget than the public school system.
To learn more about Maine Virtual Academy, visit https://meva.k12.com.
