School Choice programs are only legal under state law.

• True

  Incorrect!

• False

  School choice is constitutional under the federal and most state constitutions when policies and programs are designed properly. At its core, school choice is a method of funding education that provides expanded educational opportunities for children. School choice programs do not fund private schools. School choice funds education for children by giving control over those funds to parents who make private and independent choices of schools and educational resources that best fit their children. Thirty-three states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico enjoy 75 school choice programs.

Children have a federal constitutional right to education.

• True

  Incorrect!

• False

  San Antonio Indep. School Dist. V. Rodriguez established there is no federal constitutional right to education. Education is largely a state issue. Educational choice programs have been enacted by state legislatures, with the exception of D.C.’s voucher, which is funded by Congress.

The State determines how and where a child will be educated.

• True

  Incorrect!

• False

  Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary- established that parents, not the state, have primary authority to decide how and where a child will be educated. “The fundamental liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” The parent is a child’s first teacher and has the right to determine how their child will be educated.

   

A tax deduction for educational expenses at a nonpublic school violates the Establishment Clause.

• True

  Incorrect!

• False

  Educational expenses, including tuition, textbook, and transportation payments, have a secular purpose. They do not advance, or inhibit, religion. They do not create excessive entanglement of the state with religion. See Mueller v. Allen

Tax credits are not appropriations.

• True

  Tax-credit scholarship programs are private scholarship programs funded with private funds from private individuals who give money for scholarships voluntarily. Tax credits are not a state appropriation. Tax credits given to private scholarship funders represent a diminution of tax required to be paid by the funder. Not a state appropriation. See Arizona Christian School Tuition Org. v. Winn.

• False

  Incorrect!

Private school choice programs do not fund private schools.

• True

  School choice is a method of funding education to provide expanded educational options for children. School choice provides funds for a child’s education by giving control over those funds to the parents who make private and independent choices of schools and educational resources that best fit their child.

• False

  Incorrect!