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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION Arizona A lawsuit was filed in the Arizona Superior Court in and for Maricopa County on August 23, challenging the legal sufficiency of referendum petitions gathered by Save Our Schools Arizona, a political committee seeking to submit the recent expansion of Arizona’s education savings account to a vote – with the intent […]
As part of an overhaul of the state’s school financing system, Illinois created the nation’s 22nd tax-credit scholarship program and the first in the Land of Lincoln. Illinois, which previously had a private school tuition deduction as its only form of K–12 educational choice, narrowly advanced Senate Bill 1947 through its House Monday. The massive […]
This post originally appeared here on the Rick Hess Straight Up blog on Education Week. I’ve probably been to Washington, D.C., more times in the past six months than I have in the past six years, certainly more times than I ever wanted. After 20 years being headquartered in the American heartland of Indiana, with […]
This post originally appeared here on the Rick Hess Straight Up blog on Education Week. Greetings, fellow travelers. It’s Robert Enlow, back again with the next take from the mind of this old, cranky ed reformer. Imagine, if you will, that I’m sitting in a rocking chair sipping iced tea—or something slightly stronger—muttering under my […]
This post originally appeared here on the Rick Hess Straight Up blog on Education Week. Hi. My name is Robert Enlow. I’m an ed reformer, and I’ve been one for a long, long time. Over time, it’s easy to lose oneself in the daily grind that wears us all down, and sometimes we need to […]
LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION Ohio Ohio’S HB 49 was signed into law by Gov. John Kasich. The bill raises the maximum voucher values for the Cleveland Scholarship Program from $4,250 to $4,650 for K–8 students, and from $5,700 to $6,000 for high schoolers.
Opponents of educational choice worry that empowering parents and students to attend private schools will lead to a Wild West of schools wrought with teachers who lack “certification,” a puzzling position to take considering public schools are increasing their employment of “uncertified” teachers. Take Oklahoma as one example. With the passage of Senate Bill 498 […]