To the editor:

In January, Rep. Steve King sponsored the Choices in Education Act of 2017 (H.R. 610) to develop a voucher program for private school and home-schooled students. To pay for the voucher program, this act gets rid of programs designed to improve education, especially for students living in poverty, and nutritional standards for school breakfasts and lunches.

The Choice in Education Act would eliminate the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was designed to give all students access to a quality education. The ESEA provides money for training, materials and programs, such as reading programs for struggling students, and holds schools accountable for student learning. It has received bipartisan support since 1965.

The Choice in Education Act would also get rid of a school’s obligation to provide healthy meals. This act would eliminate the need for schools to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, to lower levels of sodium and fats, and to keep meals within certain appropriate caloric requirements. This provision of H.R. 610 is ironically to be called the No Hungry Kids Act.

The Choice in Education Act would replace both ESSA and the nutritional standards with “block grants to qualified states.” Qualified states would be required to provide vouchers and to allow parents to enroll their child in any school anywhere in their state of residence.

In summary the Choice in Education Act would take the federal money that is currently being used to help children learn and receive healthy meals and use it to pay for a voucher program for private schools and home-schooled children.

For sources for this article and more information on the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 visit http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/education/elementary-and-secondary-education-act-of-1965/

For sources for this article and more information on the Choices in Education Act visit https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/610/all-info

If you have concerns about the Choice in Education Act please contact Rep. Steve King. His contact information is: Washington D.C. (202) 225-4426, Fort Dodge (515) 573-2738, or contact him at https://steve king.house.gov/contact.

Catherine Lawless Frank

Dayton, Ohio