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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 […]
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. […]