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LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION California A proposed education savings account in the Golden State, SB 1344, failed in committee. It was granted reconsideration April 4. Colorado Colorado’s HB 18-083, an income tax credit for private school tuition as well as for the funding of private school scholarships, passed the Senate. The credit amount is […]
Arizona – Michael Chartier @mchart1 In a 17–13 vote, the Arizona Senate passed SB 1279, a bill that would expand the state’s education savings account (ESA) eligibility. The bill then made its way to the House where it has been referred to both the Education and Rules committees. Kansas – Michael Chartier @mchart1 The Kansas […]
National The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice released a new report, The Integration Anomaly: Comparing the Effects of K–12 Education Delivery Models on Segregation in Schools, by Dr. Ben Scafidi. The report explores recent trends in both racial and income segregation in neighborhoods and schools and offers do’s and don’t’s for school choice programs aiming […]
Alabama – Leslie Hiner @LeslieHiner The Alabama Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Alabama Accountability Act on March 2. Alabama’s tax-credit scholarship and refundable tax credit programs, which serve low-income children with a preference for children in “failing” schools, are currently undergoing revisions through SB 71, which passed the Senate March 31. Although SB […]
Arizona – Leslie Hiner @LeslieHiner The Arizona Senate passed, with a bipartisan vote, the expansion of education savings accounts (ESAs) to include Native American families living on tribal lands. Florida – Leslie Hiner @LeslieHiner A bill to clarify and revise technical aspects of the Florida Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, an ESA program, was introduced in […]
Delaware – Doran Moreland @Dmoreland9In early October, the Friedman Foundation released its Delaware K-12 and School Choice Survey. With the state’s legislature likely to consider education savings accounts (ESAs) in 2015, Paul DiPerna analyzed the survey’s ESA findings in this blog post. DiPerna also appeared on Delaware’s WDEL radio station to discuss the survey’s implications, which […]
Alabama – Stephanie Linn @StephanieJLinn Thirty public school superintendents signed on to the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the school choice program provided under the Alabama Accountability Act. The law is presently in effect while being appealed in the judicial system. The Friedman Foundation filed an amicus curiae in defense of the school choice program. Colorado […]
Alabama – Stephanie Linn @StephanieJLinn The Montgomery County Circuit Court struck down the Alabama Accountability Act as unconstitutional. The Accountability Act contains two private school choice programs: a tax-credit scholarship program and a refundable tax credit program. Judge Gene Reese ruled the Act violates the Alabama Constitution’s single-subject rule, which requires legislation to focus on […]
Alabama – Stephanie Linn @StephanieJLinn U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the Alabama Accountability Act on grounds that the school choice program contained within the Act violated equal protection. The Southern Poverty Law Center had filed a lawsuit contending that its clients, students in “failing” public schools, were unable to take […]
Alabama – Stephanie Linn @StephanieJLinn The Alabama House passed HB 558 that would amend the Alabama Accountability Act. The bill heads to the Senate for consideration. The bill would make the following changes: Define individual donors as shareholders or partners of S corporations or Subchapter K entities, and eliminate the $7,500 cap on all individual contributions. […]