By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Indiana’s voucher program is exploding in its second year with more than 5,000 students signed up to attend private schools with taxpayer-funded vouchers.

The enrollment marks a significant jump over the 3,900 Hoosier students who participated in the inaugural year of Indiana’s voucher program. The South Bend Tribune reports that 270 private schools are now accepting voucher students.

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“Hoosier families are more aware than ever before that they have education choices,” Alex Damron, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Education, told theNewsStar.com. “There has been a culture shift within Indiana families that we’re very aware of …”

North Liberty Christian School administrator Adriane Baker told the South Bend Tribune that her small K-6 school has accepted three new voucher students and another three have expressed interest. The handful of new students is a small boost for the school’s current enrollment of 25, and indicates a level of interest from parents in the types of small religious schools now available through the voucher program.

“I don’t know if those families would have come to this school had they not had that opportunity,” Baker told the Tribune.

We hope the momentum of Indiana’s voucher program helps to encourage lawmakers in other states who want to help families with children stuck in struggling public schools.

The Indiana voucher program demonstrates that policymakers can overcome union obstruction and legal challenges to give families a true choice in their children’s education. And enrollment figures have made it clear that parents definitely want choices.