In The States

The Next 200 Years: A New EdChoice Series

Almost any article on Catholic schooling today will have at least one paragraph in it describing the last five decades’ decline in both the number of Catholic schools and the number of students attending them. At this point, the factors are well known: fewer priests and religious staff working in schools, Catholics becoming wealthier and […]

Mapping Indiana’s Public District School Choice Transfers

Hoosier families have many options when it comes to K–12 education. While the state’s private school choice programs have garnered plenty of local and national headlines, the majority of Indiana students move schools using a different system: open enrollment. Earlier this year, the Indiana Department of Education released its first ever Public Corporation Transfer Report […]

Breaking Down New Hampshire’s ESA Bill, the Research and Public Opinion

Last year, New Hampshire legislators introduced a bill to create Education Freedom Savings Accounts. The New Hampshire Senate passed a version of SB 193 that would set up an education savings account (ESA) program that is open to all public and homeschooled K–12 students in the Granite State. That would be a vast upgrade from New Hampshire’s […]

BRIEF: School Choice in the States, January 2018

State Brief 2-2018

LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION Colorado Colorado introduced SB 18-083, an income tax credit for private school tuition in the state senate. It was assigned to the Finance Committee January 12. In addition, a taxpayer would qualify for a credit upon providing a scholarship to a qualified child for enrollment in a private school. The credit value is […]

BRIEF: School Choice in the States, December 2017

December 2017 School Choice in the States

National As a part of its tax reform bill, Congress expanded the federal 529 college savings account program to permit withdrawals of up to $10,000 annually to cover tuition at elementary and secondary schools. Family and friends can make contributions to beneficiaries’ 529 accounts, and any earnings that the accounts accumulate over time are non-taxable. […]

School Vouchers Gone Wild? The Truth About Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarships

Based on recent media coverage, you might get the impression that the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship Program operates in some kind of Mad Max free-for-all, where families are routinely exploited by ne’er-do-well school operators. An editorial in the Orlando Sentinel decried “your tax dollars” being “whisked away” to private schools and called for an […]

BRIEF: School Choice in the States, November 2017

11-2017 State Brief Image

LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION Florida Florida’s House Education Subcommittee voted 9–5 in favor of HB 1, a bill that would create HOPE Scholarships for students who have been the victims of bullying or abuse. This would become Florida’s second tax-credit scholarship program. New Hampshire New Hampshire’s House Education Committee voted 10–9 to recommend that the legislature […]

A Frank Description of What Really Happened with Douglas County, Colorado’s School Voucher Program

Hundreds of children in Douglas County, Colorado, lost something precious: the opportunity to attend a school where they could learn to their fullest potential. Their school district’s voucher program—one that once represented the best hope for truly local, community control of education—has been terminated. This is the first voucher program terminated by the government entity […]

BRIEF: School Choice in the States, October 2017

State Brief Featured

LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION New Hampshire The New Hampshire House Education Subcommittee met to consider SB 193, which would create a nearly universal education savings account. By a bipartisan vote of 6–3, the subcommittee agreed to recommend the measure to the full committee, which will vote on November 8. The full New Hampshire House will consider the […]

BRIEF: School Choice in the States, September 2017

9-2017 State Brief Map

LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION Wisconsin Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a budget bill that increased the income limit to participate in Wisconsin’s statewide voucher program from 185 percent of the federal poverty line (about $45,500 for a family of four) to 220 percent (about $54,000 for a family of four). The bill also eliminated the requirement that […]