School Choice

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.
Illustration of scissors, glue, a ruler, and pencils used to create a cut paper collage forming a small school.
iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters Opinion 'This Place Feels Like Me': Why My School District Needed a Microschool
A superintendent writes about adding a small, flexible learning site to his district's traditional schools.
George Philhower, November 19, 2025
4 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 What Could the New Federal Tuition Tax Credit Mean for School Choice?
Just what this new program will mean for your state is still uncertain.
Rick Hess, October 7, 2025
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 How Can Education Savings Accounts Serve Students With Special Needs?
The state that pioneered the ESA is overseeing more than 10,000 requests daily from families for education expenses.
Rick Hess, September 23, 2025
8 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
Tanya Bryant, CEO of ReNEW Schools for Education Week.
Tanya Bryant, the CEO of ReNEW Schools, visits the ReNEW Dolores T. Aaron Academy in New Orleans' 9th Ward on July 31, 2025. The school serves students in pre-K through 8th grade and is part of the ReNEW charter school network that Bryant leads.
L. Kasimu Harris for Education Week
School & District Management The Storm, Aftermath, and Recovery: How Katrina Shaped This Educator's Career
An educator's pre- and post-Katrina work shows how a generation of teachers had a front-row seat to dramatic changes in New Orleans schools.
Evie Blad, August 19, 2025
9 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
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 Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. The One, Big Beautiful Bill Act championed by President Donald Trump includes the first federal school voucher program. States will decide whether to opt in to the offering.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters Opt In or Not? States Weigh Big Decision on Federal School Vouchers
A new federal program provides tax credits for donations to groups that provide private-school scholarships.
Brooke Schultz, August 4, 2025
7 min read
Schools in Caldwell Parish, La., merged to create grade band campuses.
Schools in Caldwell Parish, La., merged to create grade band campuses.
L. Kasimu Harris for Education Week
School & District Management What Makes—or Breaks—a District's School Merger Plan
District leaders in a rural, red area and a progressive city took different tones on rezoning.
Alyson Klein, July 25, 2025
11 min read
School Choice & Charters Spotlight Spotlight on The Landscape of Charter Schools
This Spotlight explores the dynamic and evolving world of school choice, focusing on charter schools and private school choice programs.
July 15, 2025
The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington, early Monday, June 30, 2025, as Republicans plan to begin a final push to advance President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package.
The Senate side of the Capitol is seen in Washington early on June 30, 2025, hours before Republicans narrowly passed President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts package. The bill includes the first major federal private school choice program.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal The Senate Passed a Federal Voucher Program. What's in It?
The measure would create a national program funding private school tuition through tax credits, though states would have to opt in.
Brooke Schultz, July 2, 2025
7 min read