School Choice

Tracker

012024 School Choice Voucher Woes shopping data tracking 1302739460
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.
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reads "Snowflakes Fall" to daycare children at the Department of Labor on Dec. 20, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. Hochul on Jan. 3, 2024, said she will push for schools to reemphasize phonics in literacy education programs, a potential overhaul that comes as many states revamp curriculums amid low reading scores.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reads "Snowflakes Fall" to children on Dec. 20, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. Hochul became the latest Democratic governor to say she'll opt her state in to the federal tax-credit scholarship program that takes effect next year, and will direct federal taxpayer funds to private school scholarships.
Will Waldron/The Albany Times Union via AP
School Choice & Charters A Large Democratic-Led State Says Yes to Trump’s School Choice Program
Thirty-one states are on track to participate in the first major federal foray into private school choice.
Matthew Stone, May 8, 2026
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5 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 A New Federal Education Tax Credit Is Creating a Dilemma for Blue States
A new tax credit is forcing Democrats to navigate the tensions of politics and principles.
Rick Hess, April 28, 2026
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9 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 Forgotten History of the School Choice Movement
Long before vouchers or charter schools, Americans were already clashing over education options.
Rick Hess, April 21, 2026
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9 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 Can School Choice Programs Stamp Out Fraud While Staying Flexible?
With the rollout of the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, transparency is vital.
Rick Hess, April 7, 2026
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7 min read
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks to a group of event attendees for his Parent Empowerment Night event where he advocated for school choice and vouchers at Temple Christian School in Fort Worth on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to attendees of his Parent Empowerment Night event where he advocated school choice and vouchers at Temple Christian School in Fort Worth on March 6, 2025. Texas is accepting applications for its new private school choice program for two more weeks after a judge intervened in a lawsuit claiming religious discrimination for the state's exclusion of Islamic schools.
Chris Torres/Fort Worth Star-Telegram via TNS
School Choice & Charters Families Get 2 More Weeks to Apply for Nation's Largest School Choice Program
Lawsuits say Texas is discriminating by excluding Islamic schools from the private school choice program.
Jennifer Vilcarino, March 18, 2026
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3 min read
Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens speaks after being announced as AASA National Superintendent of the Year in Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 12, 2026.
Roosevelt Nivens, superintendent of the Lamar Consolidated Independent school district in Texas, speaks after being named superintendent of the year by AASA in Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 12, 2026. The district Nivens leads will open a new charter school for students with autism in the 2026-27 school year.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Special Education Inside a K-12 District’s Plan for a Charter School for Students With Autism
A specialized charter school will serve a fast-growing segment of a Texas school district's student body.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, March 11, 2026
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6 min read
Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek speaks at a news conference in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, after Republican President Donald Trump said he would send troops to the city.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, speaks at a news conference in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 27, 2025. Kotek and three other Democratic governors initially said their states wouldn't participate in the first federal private school choice program. Now, three of those governors, including Kotek, are reconsidering their stances and say they haven't made up their minds.
Claire Rush/AP
School Choice & Charters They Said No to the Federal School Choice Program. Now, 3 Dems Are Reconsidering
Advocacy to get Democratic states to participate has ramped up both locally and nationally.
Matthew Stone, March 4, 2026
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4 min read
US NEWS TEXAS SCHOOL VOUCHERS DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT DA
Kelly Hancock, Texas' acting state comptroller, speaks alongside Gov. Greg Abbott in Richland Hills, Texas, on May 17, 2022, when Hancock was a state senator. Hancock has excluded Islamic schools from Texas' new, $1 billion private school choice program, which he now oversees, according to a new lawsuit.
Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via TNS
School Choice & Charters The Nation's Largest School Choice Program Excludes Muslim Schools, Lawsuit Says
The largest state to allow public funds for private schooling faces its first legal challenge.
Jennifer Vilcarino, March 3, 2026
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4 min read
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
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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
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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
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7 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 Civil Society Is Withering. How to Help Schools Restore Engagement
Can a new wave of initiatives stem the trend of isolation?
Rick Hess, February 10, 2026
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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
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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
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13 min read