By Jason Bedrick and Matthew Ladner
Summary
No one school can meet the needs of all children who just happen to live nearby. Families in rural areas deserve more education options. By embracing education choice policies, state lawmakers can deliver on the promise of America’s education system and ensure that all children have access to the learning environment that best meets their individual needs. Policymakers who want to increase education options for rural families should enact education choice policies, such as K–12 education savings accounts, and broaden charter school laws to make it easier to open them in rural areas.
Key Takeaways
Rural areas have far more education options than education choice critics claim—from private schools and charter schools to microschools and virtual learning.
States with robust education choice policies have seen a significant increase in education options in rural areas.
Expanding education choice does not harm rural school districts. Indeed, the best evidence suggests education choice policies spur rural schools to improve.