This excerpt was taken from “Myth-Educated: Debunking common education choice misconceptions in Idaho.” Read IFF's full analysis online at: https://idahofreedom.org/research/myth-educated/.
Fact: Education choice helps rural students who are not adequately served by their local public school by expanding the number of educational opportunities available to them and enabling them to supplement the limited opportunities available at public schools.
“Regardless of a rural student’s access to other brick and mortar schools, education choice expands the number of available educational opportunities. Because of their limited size and capabilities, rural schools often struggle to offer a wide variety of curricular options, such as AP classes, foreign language opportunities, or dual enrollment credit. Education choice programs, however, offer interested students the opportunity to take online courses, attend a trade or alternative school, or save for future college expenses.
Fortunately, access to online education programs and materials is improving. Innovation is greatly expanding internet access for rural communities even though broadband access and internet speeds are still problems in some areas. New internet providers like Starlink are expanding connectivity in remote communities.
Education choice scholarships can even be used to supplement the costs of computer hardware and technological devices to improve a rural student’s access to online options. In addition, choice programs can be used to finance educational options that do not require internet connectivity at all. For example, families can hire private tutors, act as the primary educator themselves, or purchase textbooks and curricula that do not require the use of the internet.”
