Vouchers
Education news, analysis, and opinion about public funding which can be used to fund students’ private school tuition
What Are School Vouchers and How Do They Work?
Few topics in education incite as much debate as vouchers, which steer public money to families to pay for students to attend private school
School Choice & Charters
Can Converting to Charter Status Save Struggling Catholic Schools?
After Tennessee lawmakers abandoned a push to create school vouchers, several struggling Memphis Catholic schools hope to remain open by converting into charter schools.
Federal
National School Choice Week: Annual Public Relations Campaign Kicks Off
The week-long campaign highlighting school choice will feature events in dozens of cities nationwide with organizers projecting that 6.7 million people will participate.
Federal
Want to Become an Education 'Reformer'? There Are Online Courses for That
A number of free, online courses are offered to help local advocates and lawmakers get steeped in education policy and related issues with the goal of more effectively pushing for changes to public schools, such as expanding choice or stricter accountability for teachers.
School Choice & Charters
How DeVos, Trump, and Midterm Elections May Affect New School Choice Laws
Midterm elections—not necessarily U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and President Donald Trump—are likely to have the most impact on efforts to expand school choice in the states in 2018, advocates say.
Teaching Profession
Video
A Political Snapshot of America’s K-12 Educators
A nationally representative Education Week survey shows rifts among teachers, principals, and superintendents on hot-button social issues affecting K-12 education. See what they think about immigration’s effect on the nation’s schools, their views on charter schools, vouchers, and LGBT rights—and who they voted for in the 2106 presidential election.
School Choice & Charters
GAO: Vouchers Leave Parents in Dark On Special Ed. Rights
States don't do enough to inform parents about the rights they lose when they enroll children in private schools using vouchers, the GAO finds.
School Choice & Charters
Many Educators Skeptical of School Choice, Including Conservatives, Survey Shows
An Education Week survey of teachers, principals, and district administrators nationwide show a plurality "fully oppose" charter schools and a solid majority oppose vouchers. Opponents include many who voted for President Donald Trump, a strong choice supporter.
School Choice & Charters
School Voucher Programs Leave Parents in the Dark on Disability Rights, Feds Say
The vast majority of families using private school vouchers for children with disabilities are participating in programs that provide inaccurate or no information at all on the federal protections they are giving up, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Special Education
Democrats Grill Ed. Dept. Nominees on School Choice Priorities
A Senate confirmation hearing for two top positions in the Education Department gave opponents of the Trump administration's K-12 policy a chance to make their rhetorical case.
School & District Management
'Precious Little Evidence' That Vouchers Improve Achievement, Recent Research Finds
Several new studies on large-scale voucher programs has complicated debates recently over private school choice—policies which allow families to use public money or aid to attend private schools, including religious ones.
School Choice & Charters
Interactive
Florida's Voucher Program: Data Snapshot and List of Participating Schools
Get a closer look at the popularity of Florida's private school choice programs and the schools that participate in them.
School Choice & Charters
'There Is No Oversight': Private-School Vouchers Can Leave Parents on Their Own
The Florida private schools that last year collected $825 million in taxpayer-funded vouchers and scholarships have few requirements for informing the public on how they are serving students.
Federal
A One-Year Scorecard for Trump on K-12 Campaign-Trail Promises
Here's a look at how things have turned out on several key campaign pledges a year after Trump's upset presidential victory.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Teachers' Union Candidates Oust Pro-Voucher Board in Colorado
A slate of teachers'-union-backed candidates has won control of Colorado's Douglas County school board—ousting its pro-school-choice majority in a strongly Republican area.