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At a recent event hosted by Missouri’s Show-Me Institute and Hammond Institute for Free Enterprise, three state legislators (two Republicans, one Democrat) disclosed that the state’s small-town and rural legislators—many of whom are Republican—represent some of the most ardent opposition to school choice. Unfortunately, we have observed similar resistance in other states. And that is […]
Raleigh’s News & Observer published an article this week titled “NC bill would let students attend any public school” about a proposed bill that would allow open enrollment in North Carolina. The universal public school choice program would allow students to cross district lines without all the red tape and expensive fees parents must endure […]
In 1979, there were 9,640 Catholic schools in the United States. By 2011, there were 6,841. That decline has been caused by a number of factors, each of which is worth exploring further—as are the policies that can contribute to their possible resurrection. From 2001 to 2011, the number of private Catholic schools decreased at […]
The Tennessean published an editorial by George Parker, a 30-year veteran public school math teacher, former president of the Washington Teachers Union, and current senior fellow at StudentsFirst, titled“School vouchers put kids’ needs first.” In the article, Parker explains how working for a teachers’ union influenced his opposition to school vouchers and why he’s had […]
When educational choice wins in the halls of state legislatures and the court of public opinion, opponents often turn to the courts of law. On April 16, the New Hampshire Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Duncan v. State of New Hampshire, a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans United […]
UPDATE Governor Sam Brownback signed HB 2506 today, ushering Kansas into the school choice club with tax-credit scholarships. Now, 24 states and the District of Columbia allow publicly funded private school choice. Today is a culmination of years of work and an ever growing coalition. Just last month, Kansas parents and supporters hosted a rally […]
Charges of “cream-skimming” is a favorite tactic used by some to scare away support for school choice. Skeptics say that should portable student-based funding be implemented, the most-engaged families will rise to the top (the “cream”) and private schools will separate them from the rest. Thus, public schools will be left to serve only the […]
We agree, and we’ll explain why in our response to today’s freakout, which comes from the comments section of the Wall Street Journal’s “Schooling on a ‘Debit Card.’” Six empirical studies have examined real school choice programs’ fiscal impact on taxpayers. ALL of them find school choice saves money for taxpayers. Not one study has […]
A new education documentary provides another glaring example of how the lack of consumer choice in K-12 education undermines the efficient allocation of resources to our schools. Unfortunately, the way the film portrays the recent squeeze on public school finances leaves out a lot of important context. Produced by Indiana’s West Lafayette Community School Corporation, […]
Florida’s House of Representatives passed a bill, HB 7167, that includes an expansion of the nation’s most-used tax-credit scholarship program and creation of the Personal Learning Scholarship Account Program for students with special needs, similar to the school choice education savings account (ESA) model in place in Arizona only. School Choice Tax-Credit Scholarship Expansion STUDENT FUNDING […]