Providing school choice as a means of competition in education is a neoliberal goal that has gained momentum over the latter half of the twentieth century. In 2008, the State of Georgia enacted legislation for a new tax credit called the Qualified Education Tax Credit (QETC), which provides scholarship funds for students to move from their districted public school to a private school of their choice. Research has been conducted on how members of the dominant group and some members of non-dominant groups have navigated school choice. One group of people whose experiences have not been heard yet is the Latinx community. Using purposeful sampling, this critical narrative study explores the experiences of Latinx parents in Georgia as they navigate moving their child(ren) from their districted public school to the private school of their choice. To better understand the system which these families are navigating, market theory, rational choice theory (RCT), and Latinx critical race theory (LatCrit) were employed. Guided by Seidman’s (2013) methods for personal interviews, the experiences of this marginalized community will finally be given a platform. Using Saldaña’s (2016) coding methods to identify themes, the findings of this study indicate that Latinx parents are seeking a better academic environment and, in this case, a religious education. The findings also demonstrate that Latinx families continue to face barriers to their existence, in this case as they navigate the school choice marketplace created in Georgia. Nevertheless, once in their chosen private school, these Latinx parents are satisfied with their (or in some cases, their child’s) decision and feel as though they have been welcomed into this new community. Keywords: Latinx, School Choice, Georgia, SSO, Tax Credit Scholarship, Private School

Horne, Jacob T., "A Critical Narrative Study of Latinx Parents’ Experiences Navigating Georgia’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program," Ph.D. diss., Valdosta State University, 2022.