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In his 1955 seminal work The Role of Government in Education, Milton Friedman focused on the freedom of individuals, which, with general education, he understood to mean families, i.e., “the basic social unit” wherein parents have the trust and duty to educate their children. School choice programs actuate that vision of parental freedom and control over primary and secondary education. Critically, in so doing, such programs necessarily break the chain between education and government directive. And where parents’ choices, not government officials, direct where and how to spend education dollars, a wide array of providers, including religious schools, may lawfully participate. In short, parental control is central to both good and lawful education freedom programs.
That is why EdChoice Legal Advocates represents parents and their allies in defending school choice programs—because supporting parents’ choices, not institutions, is key. EdLA engages in some legal battles on its own and collaborates in others with the Institute for Justice via the Partnership for Educational Choice. In all cases, our strategic litigation defends educational choice programs for families.
EdLA Matters
Michigan lacks a school choice program because the Michigan Constitution has a clause prohibiting all aid to private schools. Michigan parents sued, asserting that the constitutional provision should be prohibited from causing special harm to their parental rights. EdLA’s amicus makes two arguments in support of the parents. First, EdLA explains how Michigan’s no-aid clauses regarding private schools are enforced in a discriminatory manner against parents. Second, EdLA compiles evidence demonstrating real harm to students’ education from prohibiting school choice programs.
To ensure students with special needs receive a quality education, Montana lawmakers created a special needs education savings account program in 2023 to provide families the opportunity to access needed supports such as tuition, curriculum, transportation, therapies, and more. Before the program could launch, opponents sued trying to stop it. EdChoice Legal Advocates has stepped in to represent lawmaker and mother Sue Vinton, who sponsored the legislation after being inspired by the success of her now-adult son, Jake, who has Down Syndrome.
EdLA-IJ Cases
Alaska has a unique correspondence program designed to meet the educational needs of students in this sparsely populated state. A group of parents is teaming up with the Partnership for Educational Choice to defeat a lawsuit aimed at shutting down this unique program and the opportunity it provides.
Arkansas enacted the LEARNS Act in 2023, providing education savings accounts called Education Freedom Accounts that parents can use for a wide variety of educational goods and services. In 2024, several parents of public school students filed a lawsuit attacking the program. A group of Arkansas families is teaming up with the Partnership for Educational Choice to save the program.
Two of Ohio’s most popular educational choice programs are under attack. The Partnership for Educational Choice is defending the programs, which tens of thousands of Ohio students depend on.
South Carolina enacted an Education Scholarship Trust Fund program in 2023, providing education savings accounts that parents can use for a wide variety of educational goods and services. The South Carolina teachers’ union, the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, and six parents filed a lawsuit attacking the program directly in the South Carolina Supreme Court. The Partnership for Educational Choice filed an amicus brief helping to defend the program at the state supreme court.
In 2019, Tennessee enacted an Education Savings Account that helped thousands of low-and-middle-income students receive a quality education. A year later, the mayor of Nashville announced a lawsuit attacking the program. A Group of Tennessee families is teaming up with the Partnership for Educational Choice to save the program.
Utah enacted the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program in 2023, providing education savings accounts that parents can use for a wide variety of educational goods and services. In 2024, several plaintiffs filed a lawsuit attacking the program. A group of Utah families is teaming up with the Partnership for Educational Choice to save the program.
Contact Us
EdChoice Legal Advocates
111 Monument Circle, Suite 2650
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-978-9472