BRIEF: School Choice in the States December 2016
LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION
Georgia
Leslie Hiner worked with outside counsel and, on December 15, 2016, filed an amicus brief with the Georgia Supreme Court in support of the state’s tax-credit scholarship program and the right of Georgia parents to choose the best possible education for their children. EdChoice argues that significant empirical evidence supports educational choice and the rationale behind Georgia’s Qualified Educational Tax Credit program in five key ways:
- Educational choice improves academic outcomes for participating students;
- Public schools exposed to educational choice have improved academic outcomes;
- Students utilizing educational choice move from more segregated schools to less segregated schools;
- Educational choice has a positive impact on civic values and practices; and
- Educational choice saves taxpayers and public school systems money.
Read the full report in our amicus brief on our website here.
IN OTHER EDCHOICE NEWS
Educational choice advocates from several states participated in EdChoice’s advanced media training in New York City to prepare them to better communicate their messages to reporters across all mediums.
EdChoice released the seventh installment in its School Survey Series—Exploring Arizona’s Private Education Sector. Catch the key findings or download the report on our website here.
EdChoice Vice President of State Programs Leslie Hiner met with local leaders in Georgia to discuss ways to advance educational choice in their state.
Hiner and EdChoice Director of State Engagement Ed Failor met with leaders in Iowa to educate them about education savings accounts.
EdChoice hosted a fact-finding trip to Phoenix, Arizona for Minnesota leaders, so they could see and learn about educational choice, especially education savings accounts, firsthand.
Hiner and EdChoice Director of State Engagement Michael Chartier met with a coalition of educational choice supporters in Nevada to discuss funding stream options for Nevada’s largest-in-the-nation education savings account program. To learn more about the court cases affecting this program, visit “Nevada ESA Litigation: What You Need to Know.”
Texans for Education Opportunity hosted a Legislative Staff Education Policy Briefing in Austin last month. EdChoice Director of State Engagement Ed Failor attended the briefing and distributed educational material on school choice. The Texas Public Policy Foundation also hosted a school choice event in Austin last month, the Educational Choice Leaders’ Summit. The full-day event educated and trained parent and community members about educational choice. Failor assisted in the training and presented information on education savings accounts.
