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A recent Wall Street Journal story, “Homeowners’ Quest for the Best Schools,” highlighted an age-old dilemma that far too many American families face when it comes time to determine the best K–12 education for their children. Because our school system has historically been based on geography instead of student needs, families who can afford to […]
Legislators in Arkansas proposed a bill (HB 1222) to increase educational choice for families through an education savings account (ESA) program available to every child across the state. And though the previously conducted empirical studies on the financial effects of private school choice programs have found overall benefits to the state, taxpayers and individual districts, […]
Friday, Georgia’s Senate Education and Youth Committee will hear the Individual Student Education Act. The bill, if passed as currently worded, would create a completely universal education savings account (ESA) program. School choice is heating up faster than Hotlanta on a sunny day in July during a dry spell! Georgia would be expanding its educational […]
You may have noticed a new chart in this year’s edition of The ABCs of School Choice. That’s because we wanted to do something different and look at the aggregate spending on vouchers, tax-credit scholarships and education savings accounts (ESAs) in the context of national K–12 education spending. I took the total spending data over […]
UPDATE April 7, 2017 This nearly universal expansion of Arizona’s education savings accounts (ESA), SB 1431, passed out of the Senate last night in a 16-13 vote. Since our original publication of this blog post, an identical companion bill—HB 2394—was introduced. The House bill also passed out of its chamber last night in a 31-28 […]
UPDATE March 31, 2017 Before the Texas Senate passed SB 3, formerly a universal education savings account (ESA) bill, on March 30, the bill was amended in seven key ways. 1. The bill now limits ESA eligibility only to students who have attended a Texas public school for one year prior to applying. 2. Legislators […]
A few weeks ago, New Hampshire legislators introduced Education Freedom Savings Accounts in the Senate. The bill, if passed, 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’s a vast upgrade from New Hampshire’s income-based tax-credit scholarship program, and the […]
LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION Arizona SB 1431, a bill that would expand the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts to near-universal eligibility, was introduced to the Arizona legislature last month. The bill was referred to both the Senate Education Committee and the Rules Committee. Arkansas HB 1222, a bill that would create a tax credit-funded education savings account program, […]
The EdChoice team has put in its votes for this year’s educational choice yearbook superlatives, and these are our winners. Enjoy. Most Empowering Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program Our team weighed purchasing power, funding stream stability and the ability of parents to use their funds flexibly to determine the educational choice program that empowers the […]
We’ve given our readers an overview of educational choice programs across the nation this week with rankings based on eligibility and participation. But one major question still remains: How well are these programs funded? The best educational choice policies make as many children as possible eligible to participate, but also empower participants to truly afford their chosen educational […]