BRIEF: School Choice in the States August 2016
LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION
Nevada – Michael Chartier @mchart1
It has been more than a month since the Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments in the Duncan v. State of Nevada and Lopez v. Schwartz cases—both lawsuits attempting to shut down a nearly universal education savings account (ESA) program for Nevada students. The court has yet to issue a ruling in these cases. Check back to this post regularly, or follow us on Twitter @edchoice for litigation updates in real time. To read more about these two cases, check out “Nevada ESA Litigation: What You Need to Know.”
IN OTHER NEWS
– Last month, EdChoice released a new research report: Exploring Arkansas’s Private Education Sector. This report is the sixth installment in our School Survey Series, and it details the results of our survey of Arkansas private schools and U.S. Department of Education data, including schools’ awareness of the state’s new voucher program. You’ll also learn whether private schools are willing to participate in educational choice programs, what reservations they have about such programs, the number of available private school seats, Arkansas private school tuition costs and more. For a quick summary, visit “Top Findings From New Arkansas Private School Survey.”
-At the annual conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting this year, Dr. Steve Perry—a liberal charter school leader and passionate educational choice advocate—spoke about the poor state of K–12 education for families of color and those in poverty and inspired the audience with his ideas on how to bridge the political divide to advance universal educational choice. Watch his speech here.
-Our President and CEO Robert Enlow and our Vice President of Programs Leslie Hiner spoke at the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Legislative Summit in Chicago. Hiner joined a panel to discuss the constitutionality of ESAs. Enlow spoke on a panel about election year views on education. Notably, EdChoice co-sponsored a Enlow’s panel along with the National Education Association, one of the largest teachers’ unions and opponents of educational choice policies.
-The EdChoice team played host to policymakers from across the country last month in our annual educational trainings about school choice policies, research and messaging.
-John Oliver aired a now notorious rant about charter school choice on his HBO show Last Week Tonight. The online web show “We The Internet TV” published a response to Oliver’s segment soon after, and that video has already garnered more than 100,000 views. View that video here, and don’t forget to give it a thumbs up and share with your friends. The Center for Education Reform is also running a video contest called, “Hey John Oliver, Back Off My Charter School!” You can learn more about it here.
