Lee County club hosts school choice debate
Two speakers voice their opinion on school choice.
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – One party. Two sides.
The Lee County Republican Club discusses a variety of topics concerning the community and country throughout the year.
This week, school choice was the hot topic.
“School choice has certainly been at the top of that list this legislative session. So, we thought this is a forum to inform people, to have discussions to fulfill that American tradition of debate, and open discussion. So, we said, let’s go for it,” Richard Stone, president of the Lee County Republican Club.
The organization hosted a debate on school choice with speakers representing both sides of the issue.
This debate comes a little over a month after a senate committee killed House Bill 2, the Mississippi Education Freedom Act.
“Obviously, I’m for all components of education freedom and he’s not so much. And at the end of the day, I think we’re going to agree on more than we disagree. And we’re here to educate as educators … the population on what education freedom is and isn’t,” said Mississippi Ready Director Leah Ferretti.
“There’s good people on both sides of this and our only goal tonight is to just give people information. And at the end of the day, they can make their own decision,” said Monroe County Superintendent of Education Dr. Chad O’Brian.
Leah Ferretti is the Director of Mississippi Ready — a campaign with the goal to improve educational opportunities for students across the state.
Ferretti said she believes parents deserve the right to choose the education setting for their children.
“Not every school can meet a child’s needs. And that doesn’t mean there aren’t great schools and great teachers. It just means that some children need something different and it’s not a one size fit all model for children,” said Ferretti.
If passed, House Bill 2 would have allowed public-to-public and public-to-private school transfers — using public dollars.
Dr. Chad O’Brian is the superintendent of the Monroe County School District.
“We just believe there’s a lot of facts that aren’t out there yet, and it’s being billed as parents can just choose wherever school they want their kids to go. And if that were true, we feel like you’d probably have a lot more people lined up there to support it,” said O’Brian.
The receiving school district would have had the choice to accept or deny the student who wants to transfer.
“And if your child does have special needs, or they have a handicap, or a disability, the private school is not going to take them. They’re not. If your child excels, academically or they’re really great at sports, they’re going to have a really great chance to get in,” said O’Brian.
Both speakers had equal time to respond to questions and rebuttal.
“I think they’re going to walk away with ‘We need education freedom,'” said Ferretti.
Participants came from across Mississippi to the event.
Lawmakers supporting House Bill 2 say they plan to continue the fight for education freedom.
