School choice policies create educational opportunities for children, opening access to a high-quality education, a privilege now reserved only to wealthier and connected families. School choice has many different forms: Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), school vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, charter schools, magnet schools, inter/intra-district public school choice, homeschooling, online learning, customized learning, and new options yet to be discovered.

Unfortunately, New Mexico has very limited educational options for our children. New Mexico provides no financial assistance to parents wishing to send their children to private schools instead of public schools. Tax-credit scholarships for low-income students have been proposed in the legislature in recent years. However, those bills failed to pass the House or Senate¹.

Charter Schools – READ MORE Charter schools are public schools too! These schools are publicly funded by the government and administered independently. Charter schools operate with more flexibility to create innovative learning environments while continuing to be held to a high standard of accountability. According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools², education reform group advocating for the growth of charter schools, New Mexico’s law provides multiple authorizers and a fair amount of accountability, but contains some caps on charter public school growth and provides insufficient autonomy and inequitable funding to charter schools. SHOW LESS

Educational Savings Accounts – READ MORE We still do not have greater educational opportunity options such as our neighbors in Arizona where families can take advantage of Educational Savings Accounts or ESAs. Educational Savings Accounts are one of the most empowering school choice options because it allows families to withdraw their eligible students from a public school and use this savings account to pay for tuition at a private school, online learning program or home school environment that will strengthen their learning. Some ESAs, but not all, even allow students to use their funds to pay for a combination of public school courses and private services or even to pay cover some college costs.. To show your support in favor of innovative school choice options like ESA’s don’t forget to sign our pledge below. SHOW LESS

Open Enrollment – READ MORE New Mexico has voluntary intradistrict and interdistrict open enrollment. Boards of receiving school districts may admit non-resident students if space is available. In addition, students attending a low-performing school must be allowed to transfer to another school³ SHOW LESS

I pledge my support for more educational opportunities in New Mexico. Expanding school choice is critical to providing each student with the quality education they deserve to realize the American Dream and empowers students to achieve more.