Private Schools

Tracker

Which States Have Private School Choice?
Education savings accounts, voucher, and tax-credit scholarships are growing. This tracker keeps tabs on them so you don't have to.
The U.S. Private School Market: An Explainer
As private school choice programs expand, the sector is on track to grow in enrollment and value to education companies.
School Choice & Charters Video Private School Choice Is Growing. What Comes Next?
States are investing billions of dollars in public funds for families to use on private schooling.
Mark Lieberman & Yi-Jo Shen, February 24, 2026
1 min read
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, left, attends a news conference with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, right, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Gov. Lee presented the Education Freedom Scholarship Act of 2024, his administration's legislative proposal to establish statewide universal school choice.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, left, attends a news conference with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in Nashville, Tenn. on Nov. 28, 2023. Both Republican governors have championed new programs that let families in their states use public funds for private education. The programs in both states are facing legal challenges.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters The Legal Fight Over Private School Choice: Who Is Suing and Why?
Court battles are underway—or recently wrapped up—for programs in at least nine states.
Mark Lieberman, February 24, 2026
1 min read
In this image provided by NAESP, elementary school principals gathered on Capitol Hill recently to meet with their state's congressional delegations in Washington
Elementary school principals gathered on Capitol Hill on Feb. 11, 2026,<ins data-user-label="Madeline Will" data-time="02/12/2026 11:53:27 AM" data-user-id="00000175-2522-d295-a175-a7366b840000" data-target-id=""> </ins>to meet with their state's congressional delegations in Washington. They advocated for lawmakers to protect federal K-12 investments.
John Simms/NAESP
School & District Management On Capitol Hill, Relieved Principals Press for Even More Federal Support
With the fiscal 2026 budget maintaining level K-12 funding, principals look to the future.
Olina Banerji, February 12, 2026
7 min read
Children play during recess at an elementary school in New Cuyama, CA on Sept. 20, 2023. Can a program that represents the federal government’s first big foray into bankrolling private school choice end up helping public school students?
As Democratic governors decide whether to sign their states up for the first major federal foray into private school choice, some say they want public school students to benefit. Here, children play during recess at an elementary school in New Cuyama, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2023.
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
School Choice & Charters The Federal Choice Program Is Here. Will It Help Public School Students, Too?
As Democrats decide whether to opt in, some want to see the funds help students in public schools.
Matthew Stone, February 5, 2026
9 min read
20260203 AMX US NEWS COULD TEXAS SCHOOL VOUCHER PROGRAM 1 DA
Enrollment in private school choice programs has grown quickly around the country in recent years. Applications open this month for Texas' newly created private school choice program, the largest such program in the country. Private "microschools"—such as the Humanist Academy in Irving, Texas, shown on Jan. 8, 2026—could benefit.
Juan Figueroa/ The Dallas Morning News via Tribune Content Agency
School Choice & Charters Where Private School Choice Enrollment—and Spending—Is Surging
States have devoted billions of dollars recently in public funds families can use on private schooling.
Mark Lieberman, February 3, 2026
13 min read
Image of students working at desks, wearing black and white school uniforms.
iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters As School Choice Goes Universal, What New Research Is Showing
New analyses shed light on the students using state funds for private school and the schools they attend.
9 min read
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature on Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. The federal government has made its biggest push yet for school choice under the Trump administration.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice Gets Supercharged in Trump's 2nd Term
At the same time, his administration is pledging to dial back the federal role in education.
Brooke Schultz, October 9, 2025
6 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Choice & Charters Opinion The Biggest Things People Don’t Know About School Choice
The school choice debate is rife with urban myths and dubious claims.
Rick Hess, September 9, 2025
8 min read
Upside down bluish green-colored Dollar symbol and finance graph shaped #2 pencil. On white-colored notepaper background.
Getty
Education Funding State Funding for Schools Is a Mess This Year, Too. Here's Why
The Trump administration's school funding disruptions have drawn significant attention, but schools are challenged by state budgets, too.
Mark Lieberman, August 29, 2025
12 min read
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the state legislature Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.
Penelope Koutoulas holds signs supporting school choice in a House committee meeting on education during a special session of the Tennessee state legislature on Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. After the passage of the first federal tax-credit scholarship, all states will have to decide whether to opt into the new program.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters Tracker Federal Private School Choice: Which States Are Opting In?
Education Week is tracking state decisions on the first major federal program that directs public funds to private schools.
2 min read
Amber Powell, a first grade teacher, and Dr. Vera Triplett, CEO/Founder, of Noble Minds Institute for Whole Child Learning.
Vera Triplett, the CEO and founder of Noble Minds Institute for Whole Child Learning, right, walks with Amber Powell, a 1st grade teacher, on Aug. 6, 2025. The school, located in the East Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans, will convert to a private, independent school this school year.
L. Kasimu Harris for Education Week
School & District Management Q&A This School Leader Still Sees the Effects of Hurricane Katrina, 20 Years Later
Vera Triplett is concerned about the number of schools that have shut down in her city in the years since Katrina.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, August 19, 2025
6 min read
Students walk from buses into Daviess County Middle School on the first day of classes for Daviess County Public Schools, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Owensboro, Ky.
Students walk from buses into Daviess County Middle School on the first day of classes for Daviess County Public Schools on Aug. 12, 2025, in Owensboro, Ky. Parents generally give public education low marks, but they don't believe the U.S. Department of Education should be dismantled.
Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP
Families & the Community What Americans Really Think of Public Schools
Americans continue to give a higher grade to their local schools than to the nation's education system as a whole, a new poll finds.
Evie Blad, August 19, 2025
5 min read
Image of a $100 dollar bill that is cut into blocks for distribution.
E+/Getty
Education Funding Who Will Bear the Brunt of Trump's Hold on $6.8 Billion in School Funds?
The sudden absence of expected federal funds has already cost some educators their jobs.
Mark Lieberman, July 7, 2025
12 min read
From left, Quentin J. Lee, superintendent of Talladega City Schools, Keith Konyk, superintendent of Elizabeth Forward School District, and Eric Mackey, Alabama's state superintendent of education, discuss the latest K-12 policy changes at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 on July 2, 2025.
From left, Quentin J. Lee, superintendent of Talladega City Schools in Alabama; Keith Konyk, superintendent of Elizabeth Forward School District in Pennsylvania; and Eric Mackey, Alabama's state superintendent of education, discuss the latest K-12 policy changes at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 on July 2, 2025.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Federal What Superintendents Think About a Steady Clip of Federal K-12 Changes
A state superintendent and two district leaders shared their thoughts on the latest changes coming from Washington.
Jennifer Vilcarino, July 3, 2025
4 min read