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LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION National On June 26, the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Missouri (Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia vs Comer). The high court held that the state may not exclude religious entities from participating in a generally available public benefit program—in this particular case, a child […]
During his campaign, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu promised at a public hearing in Croydon that he would sign a bill protecting and expanding town tuitioning, and he kept his promise. Today, Gov. Sununu signed SB 8, a town tuitioning bill often referred to as “the Croydon bill,” and Croydon and other small towns are […]
The North Carolina legislature overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto to enact Senate Bill 257, a budget bill that includes additional funding for the state’s two school voucher programs as well as a new education savings account (ESA) for children with special needs. North Carolina is the sixth state to enact an ESA program, which allow parents to […]
LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION Alabama SB 123, a bill to expand Alabama’s tax-credit scholarship program, failed in the Alabama House after having passed the Senate. Florida The Florida Senate passed HB 15, a bill that would increase the size of the scholarships students receive through the state’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program. In April, the Florida House of […]
The Institute of Education Science (IES) recently released a report that analyzed first-year outcomes for students enrolling in D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) since its 2011 reauthorization. The OSP provides students from low-income families in D.C. with scholarships worth up to $8,452 for K–8 students and $12,679 for high school students. The IES research team […]
LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION National The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 19 in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, a case arising out of Missouri that could remove a major impediment to educational choice found in many state constitutions. So-called “Blaine Amendments” have restrictive language about state funds being used by religious institutions, […]
“There is no conclusive evidence that the [DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP)] affected student achievement.” This one statement, taken from a 214-page government report for which one of us (Wolf) was lead author, is often treated as the first, last and only word on the effectiveness of our nation’s only federally-sponsored private school choice program. […]
Gallup, one of the most trusted household names in national polling, recently asked Americans whether they agreed, disagreed or didn’t know enough to have an opinion about 15 of President Trump’s proposals or actions. School choice was one of the issues, and on the surface, the results weren’t all that surprising: 59 percent of Americans […]
LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION Arkansas The Arkansas House Education Committee passed SB 746, a scaled-down version of HB 1222 which previously failed to pass. SB 746 failed to pass the Arkansas House on March 31. Both bills would have created a tax credit-funded education savings account program. Learn more about both of these bills here. Florida HB 15, […]
If you build it, they will come. A memorable line, a memorable scene. But what happens if you know they’ll come, and you just can’t get it built in a timely fashion? In one of our recent reports, The Private School Landscape, we tested the theory that educational choice programs that increase access to private […]