In August, the Manhattan Institute (MI) contracted with Rasmussen Reports to survey public opinion in five states about school choice policies generally, as well as charter schools specifically. Working with MI, Rasmussen crafted nine questions that were added to the organization's regular polling of likely voters for presidential and senatorial…

Focused on educational quality, innovation and opportunity--both within and outside of the traditional system--ExcelinEd advances a broad range of student-centered policy solutions that are successfully: (1) increasing student learning; (2) Readying graduates for college and career; and (3) Advancing equity. This year's annual report highlights…

We analyze the votes taken in the Ohio State Legislature pertaining to the establishment of six school voucher programs: The Ohio Scholarship and Tutoring Program, The Autism Scholarship, The Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship, The Educational Choice Pilot Scholarship, The Educational Choice Scholarship, and the Income-based Scholarship…

In June 2005, the State of Ohio enacted the Educational Choice Scholarship Program (EdChoice, initially called the Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program), which offered scholarships to students assigned to public schools considered consistently poor-performing by the Ohio Department of Education, to take effect during the 2006-07 academic…

Voucher and education savings account (ESA) programs fund students' private school education expenses, such as tuition. In school year 2014-15, 22 such school choice programs were operating nationwide, all but one of which was state funded. Under two federal grant programs, one for students with disabilities and one for students from disadvantaged…

This article reviews several recent court cases at the federal and state levels related to school choice initiatives in the United States. Through this review, the article sheds light on the enduring question of whether these programs are unlawful bonds between church and state. The review includes details about choice programs that exist (or have…

School choice advocates have long opposed what they perceive as the hegemony the public sector has on the education enterprise primarily because it contravenes free-market principles. They fervently believe that competition will compel all schools to improve and become more efficient if they must adapt to remain open. Voucher opponents argue that…

As voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs have expanded in recent years, another promising development has been the incorporation, into more such programs, of provisions that hold participating private schools to account for their students' performance. The newest and largest voucher programs, such as those in Louisiana and Indiana, have gone…

This report provides a framework for understanding the impacts of state government statutes regulating private schools, regulations distinct to a given school choice program, and any regulatory growth over a program's lifespan. Examining school choice programs in operation for at least a few years provides important context and comparisons for…

Whether they're organizing events, buttonholing legislators, or simply trading ideas and information, a growing number of "parent unions" are attempting to stake out a place in policy debates over education in states and districts, amid a crowded field of actors and advocates. As the term implies, some of these organizations see…

This article comprises an empirical case study of student religiosity in the context of urban school choice. The purpose of this study was to compare student religiosity in a racially diverse religious private school to determine whether religious faith is a unifying factor across racial categories. Insofar as school choice has been called…

This report summarizes the state of competition in American K-12 education. It pays particular attention to the prevalence and market penetration of charter schools, private school vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships as market reforms. The effect of added institutional competition from charters, vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships on the…

Both neoliberals and liberals call for mitigating inequality of educational opportunity stemming from circumstances beyond an individual's control. In this article, we challenge the wisdom of making equality of opportunity hinge on emphasizing the distinction rather than the relationship between choices and circumstances. We utilize an empirical…

It is a long held belief that Vouchers and charter schools are among the most recognized buzzwords in today's education marketplace. Advocates assert that the quality of education will improve if consumers (i.e., parents) have greater access to schooling alternatives. Along with this assertion is the implied belief that costs of education will…

This study was designed to determine whether parent religiosity is a statistically significant school choice factor. The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) was administered to 215 parents in an urban, PreK-12 religious private school that participated in the Ohio Educational Choice (EdChoice) voucher program. The null hypothesis that there was…