Which States Have Private School Choice?

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Programs that direct public money toward private schools of a family’s choosing or family accounts that can cover any education expenses outside the public school system are proliferating.

Parents say they have sought out these programs as a way to deliver an education customized to their children’s unique needs. Politicians championing them say they represent a lifeline for students trapped in underperforming schools. Critics argue the programs deprive public schools of much-needed resources and point out that many children now benefiting from private school choice funds were already attending private schools beforehand. Several private school choice programs are facing lawsuits alleging that they violate state constitutions.

Students taking advantage of private school choice represent a small fraction of the nation’s total K-12 population, but the numbers signing up for new state programs have sometimes exceeded projections.

This tracker provides a concise yet comprehensive snapshot of the private school choice landscape on a rolling basis. In our States to Watch section, we highlight states where new private school choice programs or other notable private school choice policy changes are under consideration. Our glossary defines common terms in discussions about school choice.

As of March 22, 2024, 29 states and the District of Columbia have at least one private school choice program, according to an Education Week analysis. Of those, 12 states have at least one private school choice program that’s universally accessible to K-12 students in the state.

21 States have tax-credit scholarships

16 States have education savings accounts

10 States and the District of Columbia have vouchers

2 States have tax-credit education savings accounts

States with at least one universal private school choice program

States with one or more private school choice program

Education Savings Account (ESA)

Education savings accounts provide public per-pupil funds—often a percentage of per-student state funding—to families with children who don’t attend public schools that they can use to pay for private school tuition or other education expenses, such as tutoring and homeschooling supplies. Some states restrict ESAs or specific ESA programs within the state to students with disabilities, students attending schools with poor performance, and/or students from low-income families. Recently, more states have begun adopting universal ESAs, which all families can access regardless of income, disability status, or any other qualifying factor. ESA funds are generally given directly to families, often in the form of debit cards with restrictions on how the money can be spent. While ESAs and vouchers are often used interchangeably, what sets ESAs apart from vouchers are that they can be used for a wide array of education expenses, not just private school tuition. (See EdWeek's 2023 explainer on ESAs.)

Voucher

School vouchers describe public funds that families can use at private schools of their choice, including those that are religious, to subsidize the cost of student tuition. Many vouchers are restricted to students with disabilities, students attending poor-performing schools, and students from low-income families, but some states have vouchers that are available to any student. (See EdWeek's 2017 explainer on vouchers.)

Tax-Credit Scholarship

Tax-credit scholarship programs provide scholarships to families that they can use at private schools of their choice, including those that are religious. The scholarships most commonly come from state-authorized nonprofit organizations, which issue the scholarships out of donations that they receive from businesses or individual taxpayers who receive tax credits for those donations. Eligibility can be limited based on family income, disability status, or other factors, or it can be universal.

Tax-Credit Education Savings Account

Tax-Credit ESAs are a less common form of ESA through which families receive a designated, per-pupil amount from a state-authorized nonprofit organization that administers the account. Families can use the funds to cover any educational expense, including private school tuition, tutoring, or homeschooling costs. Businesses and individual taxpayers receive tax credits for donations to those nonprofit organizations.

Universal school choice

Private school choice programs that are open to all families regardless of disability status, income, location, or public school performance. Universal policies have become more popular in recent years.

School choice

State and, to a lesser extent, federal policies and programs that allow families to send students to schools that they wouldn’t be assigned to attend in the traditional public school system. This can include charter schools; magnet schools; traditional public schools outside of a family’s assigned school zone, district, or town; homeschooling; and private schools, including those that are religiously affiliated.

Private school choice

Policies and programs that direct state and other public funds to private schools, including religious options, where families can choose to enroll their children.

Public school choice

Policies and programs that allow families to attend public schools other than the school to which a child would normally be assigned. These schools include charter schools, magnet schools, as well as traditional public schools where families proactively decide to enroll their children. This EdWeek tracker is focused on private school choice and does not include data on public school choice programs.

Magnet schools

Public schools with a specific focus, such as STEM, performing arts, or career and technical education, that are free to attend and open to all students in a district. Some magnet schools are also open to students outside of a designated district or state and require students to apply to attend.

Charter schools

Schools that receive public funding but typically operate independently of local school districts, with private nonprofits most commonly running them and less often for-profit entities. Districts or state authorizing bodies create contracts, or “charters,” with organizations that want to open charter schools, often for a designated period of time. Charters are tuition-free and are often open to all students in a district or an even broader metro area. However, they tend to have caps on enrollment and decide enrollment based on a lottery system. Because charter schools are a form of public school choice, they are not included in EdWeek’s private school choice tracker. (See EdWeek’s 2018 explainer on charter schools.)

Inter- and intra-district choice

Policies and programs that allow students to attend public schools other than those to which they would normally be assigned. Those schools can be located in the student’s home district but outside of their traditional school zone (intra-district choice) or outside of their home district (inter-district choice). These policies are sometimes referred to as open enrollment.

States to watch

An ongoing look at significant private school choice policy development:

Kentucky

Lawmakers in both houses in mid-March approved adding to the 2024 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment that would pave the way for private school choice. Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has vowed to campaign against approval of the measure if it ends up on the ballot. A 2022 effort to create private school choice programs in the state was struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Louisiana

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted 71-32 on April 8 to approve a bill that would eliminate one of the state’s existing voucher programs and establish an education savings account program worth up to 160 percent of the average per-pupil allocation of state and local funds the state’s schools receive, which is currently $4,015. The program would be available at first to students who previously attended public school, students who previously received school vouchers from the state, and students from families making below 250 percent of the federal poverty line. By the 2028-29 school year, all students in the state would be eligible.

Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, has said private school choice is a priority for him this year. But Senate lawmakers in May began advancing a different proposal that would survey K-12 public schools on their use of public resources, eliminate the state’s existing voucher program after next school year, and put off the final decision on an ESA program for at least a year. That bill may come to the floor for a vote in the coming weeks.

Missouri

Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, on May 7 signed a bill that expands eligibility for the state’s existing tax-credit ESA program to students throughout the state who come from families earning less than 300 percent of the federal poverty line. Previously, the program only provided ESAs for residents of major cities whose family income was less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Those accounts come from state-approved, scholarship-granting nonprofit organizations, and donors receive tax credits for their contributions to those groups. The annual cap on the total amount of tax credits offered to donors will also increase from $50 million to $75 million.

Nebraska

A coalition of public school advocacy groups successfully petitioned to secure a spot on the November 2024 ballot for a referendum asking voters whether to repeal or maintain the state’s tax credit scholarship program, signed into law in 2023.

In response, lawmakers have approved a bill that will essentially negate the ballot measure by eliminating the 2023 program and replacing it with a new one that sends $10 million in state funds directly to scholarship-granting organizations to cover private school tuition. Advocates who secured the referendum earlier this year are in the process of securing signatures on a petition to put the new private school choice program on the November ballot.

Republican lawmakers in February also introduced a proposal for an education savings account worth $1,500. If passed, the program would be open to all private school students who submit an application, and it would launch in the 2025-26 school year. The bill has not advanced.

Pennsylvania

Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the Senate in early May revived a proposal that would offer vouchers worth up to $10,000 per student in the state’s lowest-performing schools. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has signaled support for a limited private school choice program in the state, though many Democratic lawmakers in both houses remain staunchly opposed.

South Carolina

The House of Representatives approved legislation on March 20 that would put the state’s education savings account program on track for universal eligibility starting with the 2026-27 school year. Currently, the program, set to begin in fall 2024, is open to a maximum of 5,000 of the state’s lowest-income students, though the cap will be raised to 15,000 students over the next several years. The state supreme court, meanwhile, is set to hear a challenge to the existing law in May.