Vouchers

Education news, analysis, and opinion about public funding which can be used to fund students’ private school tuition

Explainer

Supporters of school vouchers rally in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 24, in hopes of persuading state lawmakers to approve a voucher program that would provide public money to families to help pay tuition at private and religious schools.
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
View Explainer
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.
Arianna Prothero, November 14, 2017
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1 min read
Bruce Fuller, Opinion Contributor
Federal Opinion Note to Progressives: Betsy DeVos' Weakness Is Her Disregard for Evidence
Liberals out to vilify the U.S. secretary of education should remember that the school choice movement has progressive roots, writes Bruce Fuller.
Bruce Fuller, November 9, 2017
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4 min read
School Choice & Charters Union-Backed Candidates Win Control of Key District in Battle Over Vouchers
The union victory will likely spell the end of a Colorado county's school-voucher program as well as a high-profile lawsuit that could have become a vehicle for expanding vouchers across the country.
Arianna Prothero, November 8, 2017
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2 min read
School Choice & Charters This District Is the Latest Front in the Fight Over School Choice
Two things are at stake: the pro-school choice majority on school board in Colorado's Douglas County and the fate of a lawsuit over school vouchers that could land back in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Arianna Prothero, November 2, 2017
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3 min read
School Choice & Charters The Only National Black School Choice Advocacy Group Is Folding
The Black Alliance for Educational Options has been advocating for school choice for low-income and working class African-American families for nearly 20 years.
Arianna Prothero, October 25, 2017
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3 min read
School Choice & Charters Why Have Homeschooling Numbers Flattened Out After a Decade of Growth?
A number of factors could be at play, from the growth of charter schools and private school vouchers, to economic pressures that made it impossible for families to keep one parent at home educating their children.
Arianna Prothero, October 2, 2017
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2 min read
School Choice & Charters Florida's School Choice Program Drove Up College Enrollment Rates, Study Finds
An Urban Institute study has found that students attending private school with the help of a state-sponsored program in Florida enrolled in college at higher rates than their public school peers, but participation in the program did not boost rates of degree attainment.
Arianna Prothero, September 27, 2017
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3 min read
School Choice & Charters In State With Robust Private-School Vouchers, Many Families Don't Know They Exist
Despite increased attention brought on by the Trump Administration, a new poll finds many Indiana families are unaware of the state's voucher programs.
Arianna Prothero, September 26, 2017
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3 min read
School Choice & Charters News in Brief Ariz. Petitioners Get Go-Ahead to Take Universal Voucher Issue to Voters
Opponents of Arizona's new universal private school voucher program last week succeeded in blocking the law until voters can weigh in next year, barring a successful court challenge or an outright repeal of the new law by the state legislature.
The Associated Press, September 12, 2017
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1 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Getty/Getty
Standards & Accountability Opinion How to Define Public Schooling in the Age of Choice?
Schools must meet these five responsibilities to truly be defined as “public,” writes education professor Sarah M. Stitzlein.
Sarah M. Stitzlein, September 5, 2017
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5 min read
School Choice & Charters What Makes Illinois' New Private School Choice Program Unique?
Illinois lawmakers have created a program to use tax-credits to send thousands of kids to private schools. But the program has testing and anti-discrimination requirements that make it unique from other states'.
Arianna Prothero, September 1, 2017
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2 min read
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, left, shakes hands with State Rep. Will Davis after passage of an education funding bill that includes a $75 million tax-credit-scholarship program students can use to pay tuition at nonpublic schools.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, left, shakes hands with State Rep. Will Davis after passage of an education funding bill that includes a $75 million tax-credit-scholarship program students can use to pay tuition at nonpublic schools.
Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register via AP
Federal After Fierce Fight, Illinois Enacts Tax-Credit Scholarship Program
The new program barely received bipartisan approval from lawmakers, while incorporating elements aimed at issues of accountability and transparency.
Madeline Will, August 31, 2017
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4 min read
School Choice & Charters Illinois Plans to Use Tax Credits to Send Thousands of Students to Private Schools
The state will join nearly 30 others that offer private school choice to families, a favorite policy initiative of the Trump administration.
Arianna Prothero, August 30, 2017
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1 min read
Equity & Diversity More Americans Give Top Grades to Public Schools
But the public also wants schools to provide more career and health supports—even if it means less academics, a poll finds.
Sarah D. Sparks, August 28, 2017
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5 min read
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