Troopers in Clay County, West Virginia, have arrested a second person in connection to the case of an infant who was allegedly abused and strangled by her biological father.

FULL STORY: https://wchstv.com/news/local/clay-co-teachers-aid-charged-with-failing-to-report-abuse-of-infant-in-serious-condition#
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by Robbie Sequeira, West Virginia Watch
March 25, 2025

More than a dozen states in the past two years have launched or expanded programs that allow families to use taxpayer dollars to send their students to private schools. Now, President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress want to supercharge those efforts.

Trump in January issued an executive order directing several federal agencies to allow states, tribes and military families to tap into federal money for so-called school choice opportunities. Those can come in the form of education savings accounts, voucher programs, tax credits or scholarships. Trump’s order also aims to expand access to public charter schools, which are free from some of the rules that apply to traditional public schools.

Meanwhile in Congress, 24 Republican senators have signed on to legislation that would provide $10 billion in annual tax credits to individuals and corporations who make charitable contributions to organizations that provide private-school scholarships. A Nebraska Republican introduced a companion measure in the House.

Already this year, Idaho, Tennessee and Wyoming have approved school choice programs, and bills are advancing in Kansas, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. A bill in Mississippi died before advancing. Most of the measures still in play would open programs to all families regardless of income, though some states would cap the total amount of money available.

Supporters of school choice say it gives parents control of their kids’ education — and an escape hatch if they are dissatisfied with their local public school. Many conservatives, religious institutions and private schools are in favor of school choice, along with some people of color who live in districts with underperforming public schools.

“Every child is different. They learn in different environments. There are just so many factors, that I believe that parents should be the ones that make the decision on where their child is going to do the best and have the most success,” said Indiana Republican state Sen. Linda Rogers. A former educator, Rogers has sponsored a bill in her state that would provide additional money to charter schools, which are considered to be a form of school choice.

Opponents, including teachers unions, public school professionals and many rural lawmakers of both parties, say such measures undermine traditional public schools by shifting money away from them.

“When we start to take from public schools, we’re hurting our kids, our lower-income kids. They will not prosper from this legislation,” Tennessee Democratic state Rep. Ronnie Glynn said during the floor debate on a far-reaching voucher bill in his state.

Joshua Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University, said vouchers are a budget-buster for states.

“Vouchers don’t shift costs — they add costs,” Cowen said in a phone interview. “Most voucher recipients were already in private schools, meaning states are paying for education they previously didn’t have to fund.”

The switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, which gave parents a front-row seat to watch what their children were — or were not — learning in their classes, contributed to the recent school choice momentum. So did parent frustration over prolonged public school closures.

“Parents got a good look into sort of what was happening in schools,” said Bella DiMarco, a senior K-12 education policy analyst at FutureEd, an independent think tank at Georgetown University. “There was a lot of talk during the pandemic around school choice … of what public schools aren’t doing for their kids.”

The first modern school voucher program, created in Milwaukee in 1990, was a bipartisan effort to help lower-income families afford private schools. In recent years, more states have moved from school choice programs focused on certain groups, such as low-income students or students with disabilities, to universal programs open to students of all backgrounds.

“Historically, the programs were always sort of targeted to students in need,” DiMarco said. “But in the last couple of years, the new push has been for these universal programs.”

Currently, more than 30 states and Washington, D.C., have at least one school choice program. More than a dozen states now offer universal or near-universal access, allowing K–12 students to participate in school choice regardless of income.

EdChoice, a nonprofit that advocates for school choice, estimates that 1.2 million students are attending private schools this school year with the help of public tax credits, scholarships or vouchers.

Different strategies

States that enacted school choice programs this year have pursued different strategies.

The program Idaho enacted last month, for example, will provide an annual tax credit of $5,000 per child ($7,500 for students with disabilities) to help cover private education expenses.

Tennessee’s new program will provide 20,000 scholarships of roughly $7,000 each. During its first year, half of the Tennessee scholarships will be reserved for households earning less than $173,000 for a family of four, but that restriction will be removed in subsequent years.

About 65% of the Tennessee vouchers are expected to be awarded to students who already attend private schools, according to a legislative analysis.

Critics say the cost of the program will grow quickly, creating a hole in the state’s budget. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who pushed hard for the proposal, suggested that Trump’s executive order might provide additional resources. Lee told reporters he hasn’t yet analyzed the order, “but I think there’s opportunity there.”

“The president wants to support states like ours who are advocating for school choice,” Lee said in a news conference after lawmakers approved the measure. Lee was at the White House on Thursday when Trump signed an order calling for the U.S. Department of Education to be dismantled.

Texas lawmakers also are actively debating a voucher program, a longtime priority for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who worked to defeat resistant rural Republicans in last year’s state legislative elections and who also attended the White House event. The Senate passed a bill that would provide $10,000 per student ($11,500 for students with disabilities) annually through education savings accounts. A similar House proposal is under review.

Kansas is considering a universal refundable tax credit — $8,000 per child for accredited private school tuition and $4,000 for non-accredited private schools. The program starts with a $125 million cap, increasing annually if participation hits certain thresholds.

Ballot box defeats

School choice opponents question the wisdom of sending taxpayer dollars to schools that may lack certified teachers, follow nonstandardized curricula or discriminate in admissions. Many private schools have testing standards, maintain religious requirements or exclude LGBTQ+ students or those with certain disabilities, for example.

In some Republican-led states that have expanded school choice, Democrats have filed bills to increase oversight and place restrictions on these programs. A bill in Tennessee would require background checks for teachers at private schools that receive voucher money. And an Iowa bill would require that property tax statements include information on how much money education savings accounts subtracted from local public schools.

As voucher programs have grown, they have attracted greater scrutiny.

ProPublica, an investigative journalism outlet, last year found that Arizona’s universal voucher program has mostly benefited wealthier families. Some Arizona parents have tried to use voucher money to pay for dune buggies and expensive Lego sets, according to press reports.

Critics also note that despite recent legislative successes, school ballot initiatives fared poorly at the ballot box last fall.

Voters in Colorado rejected a measure that sought to enshrine school choice rights in the state constitution.

In Nebraska, voters partially repealed a state-funded private school scholarship program.

And in Kentucky, voters overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the use of public money to support private schools, with 65% of voters — and a majority in every county — opposed.

“There’s a handful of these billionaires that have been pushing vouchers for 30 years,” said Cowen, the Michigan State University professor. “The school choice movement is not necessarily driven by public demand, but rather by wealthy donors and political maneuvering.”

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached at rsequeira@stateline.org.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.

The post Trump’s school choice push adds to momentum in statehouses appeared first on westvirginiawatch.com

Father charged with strangulation, child abuse of 3-month-old

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