Giving Compass' Take:

• Carolyn Phenicie, writing for The 74, describes John McCain's legacy in education and his actions to aid the school choice effort as well as increase access to quality schools for Native American children. 

• What will become of the policies and goals regarding school choice that McCain set out to accomplish? How can philanthropists step in and contribute? 

• Read more about John McCain's passing and battle with glioblastoma. 


Sen. John McCain, was known to Americans for his wartime service and sacrifice as a POW, his devotion to defense and military issues, for his candid efforts to clean up campaign finance, and even for his showdowns with President Trump.

Much lesser-known, but still important, advocates say, was his legacy on school choice.

In recent years, he worked to expand education savings accounts to students attending long-underperforming Bureau of Indian Education schools, but in the past, McCain had used his perch as a senator and presidential candidate to press for expanded choice for all children.

McCain’s most recent work on school choice, providing education savings accounts to BIE students, was aimed at rectifying a kind of catch-22 for Native American children in his home state of Arizona. Lawmakers in 2015 had expanded eligibility for education savings accounts, which let parents pay for private school tuition, tutoring, or other expenses, for all children living on Native American reservations.

“He made it very clear, he made this very public, that no stone should be left unturned in our efforts to improve educational outcomes so that our Native American kids in particular are prepared for whatever they choose in life, for their goals and their aspirations,” he told The 74.

“Americans have heard a lot of tired rhetoric about education,” McCain told the NAACP. “We’ve heard it in the endless excuses of people who seem more concerned about their own position than about our children. We’ve heard it from politicians who accept the status quo rather than stand up for real change in our public schools. Parents ask only for schools that are safe, teachers who are competent, and diplomas that open doors of opportunity … No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity.”

Read the full article about John McCain by Carolyn Phenicie at The 74