Education set to be a prime focus of state lawmakers this year

Education is going to be a hot topic in the 2024 state legislative sessions that are kicking off across the country.   The year is expected to bring fresh conversations on how artificial intelligence (AI) use in the classroom should be legislated, as well as debate on matters such as school choice and how to teach subjects including reading.   “Certainly, the most activity around education will be in super-majority Republican states, particularly in the South and Midwest. These are states that for the last few years have really declared war on their public school systems,” said Carol Corbet Burris, executive director for the Network for Public Education.   Here are the education issues most likely to pop up at the state level this year:  School choice  School choice proponents have had a successful few years since the pandemic, and they have no plans to slow down.   While gains have been made in numerous states, advocates will be back for another round in Georgia and Texas, where they were unable to get the school choice legislation they were aiming for in 2023.   The most popular move for school choice backers last year was education savings accounts (ESAs), which allow parents who do not want to send their children to public school to receive a certain amount of money from the government each year to spend on alternative options such as homeschooling and private school.   In November, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) introduced a school choice plan that would…Education set to be a prime focus of state lawmakers this year