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Alabama – Stephanie Linn @StephanieJLinn The National School Choice Week Train had a whistle-stop event in Birmingham, January 24, to celebrate the new school choice programs provided by the Alabama Accountability Act. One of the event’s speakers, Bert Gall, an attorney with the Institute for Justice (IJ), brought to light the Alabama Education Association’s lawsuit against […]
The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) reported that 39.3 percent of voucher recipients (7,779 students) were never previously enrolled in public schools in Indiana, implying that these vouchers are an additional fiscal cost to the state because, as many are interpreting it, “those kids would have paid their way to a private school with or without […]
You might have seen Slate’s article and map showing all of the schools in America that teach creationism and receive public funds in some capacity. As one might expect, it stirred up a classic debate that truly does get vicious, but what we found most interesting was this anti-creationist’s post in the comments. In reality, […]
At the International School Choice Research and Reform Academic Conference this month, researchers, practitioners, and advocates convened to compare and contrast the state of school choice in the U.S. and across many European and South American countries. One thing was clear — the conversation around school choice has shifted to implementation. Private school choice programs […]
(Posted in response to a guest post by Anna J. Egalite entitled “How to Maximize Private School Supply in Choice Programs.”) Among America’s private school choice programs, the Louisiana Scholarship Program has some of, if not the, most restrictive application processes for voucher students and voucher-accepting private schools. Its administrators determine 1) which private schools can […]
In “Voucher Schools Provide Choice, Except When They Don’t,” the author Erin Prangley’s diatribe against school choice exposes the self-serving, “it’s good for me, but not for you” attitude that underlies the American Association of University Women’s (AAUW) position against vouchers. Ms. Prangley begins by affirming AAUW’s position supporting “quality public education for all.” It […]
Slate already posted a correction to its story that takes issue with school choice, “Publicly Funded Schools That Are Allowed to Teach Creationism.” Now it could use some context. Private schools accepting voucher or tax-credit scholarship students are not “publicly funded schools” any more than grocery stores that accept SNAP card users are publicly funded. But […]
An ambitious school choice proposal is on the table in Oklahoma. Last week, state legislators introduced a bill to create an education savings account system (ESA) for low- and middle-income students. (See a short video of the press conference and an explanation of how ESAs work.) The proposal is bigger than Arizona’s ESA program, a […]
What does Sen. Lamar Alexander’s (R-TN) introduction today of the “Scholarships for Kids Act of 2014” federal voucher legislation mean for the future of school choice? Allowing public education dollars to “follow” students makes sense at any level of government, from school boards all the way up to the federal government. Sen. Alexander’s proposal certainly […]
Today’s Friday Freakout comes from the heated comments section of Diane Ravitch’s blog titled,“How Embarrassing for the Friedman Foundation.” We responded to her blog post here, but something very interesting happened in the comments section between Diane and school choice supporter Greg. See the exchange below, then read our final thoughts. Two of the most […]