Creating private school vouchers for special education students--programs that are largely unchallenged in court, unlike other publicly financed tuition vouchers--can be the perfect way to clear a path for other students to get school options, according to school choice proponents. At least seven states--Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Ohio,…

Amid the cacophony of special interests fighting to be heard in statehouses and on Capitol Hill, a cadre of current and former chief state school officers is elbowing its way into the nation's education debate at a time when states are taking more control of K-12 education. A little more than a year old, Chiefs for Change is an invitation-only…

Jeb Bush left the Florida governor's office in 2007 with a legacy of having brought sweeping changes to his state's education system, through hard-edged policies that gave parents and students more choices and demanded more of schools. Today, that legacy seems poised to grow--and well beyond Florida. In state capitals across the country, numerous…

This article discusses why students should play a designer role in the creation of new (and better!) school experiences. Choosing a school is only the first step in planning an academic career. After making a selection, students must match interests and passions with an academic program and make important decisions about which courses to take and…

In 1999 the Ohio Supreme Court found the Cleveland school voucher program to be constitutional, thereby allowing the three-year-old initiative to continue. However, the school voucher program was ended when Judge Solomon Oliver enjoined the program after the anti-voucher coalition filed suit asking for a preliminary injunction. The judge's…

The big battles over school vouchers in American education have focused on programs serving low-income children who live in urban areas. Milwaukee's program, begun in 1990, is the biggest and oldest in the country, and the District of Columbia effort, funded by the federal government, has been the most carefully studied. Both have been focal…

Most online learning has taken the typical classroom and extended it to a new delivery method, keeping all the essential classroom elements in place. Christensen predicts that online education will be a "disruptive" innovation--an innovation that begins by serving a marginalized group, such as the students who drop out because the…

This study explored the factors that influenced parental decisions to exit a public school and enroll their children in a private school. It also explored why parents chose the specific private school their child attends and the level of satisfaction they have with their private school choice. The key reasons for leaving public education were: (a)…

This article reports on the provisions of a new Utah voucher plan that is hoped to embolden other states to embrace universal-voucher programs. The legislation, the product of a six-year statehouse battle, would provide every public school student who wanted one, a voucher worth $500 per year, while low-income children would receive as much as…

The Utah plan, which would have been the nation's first universal voucher program, was effectively vetoed by voters before it ever took effect. The defeat of the Utah program through a ballot referendum highlighted again the political vulnerability of such controversial school choice measures. The law's enactment had set off an intense political…

The study of school choice for special education students brings together several important pieces of legislation which are separately the focus of high interest. This paper reviews the features of the three major special education bills (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Acts, the Americans with…

Results of a longitudinal ethnographic study of Utah home schools reveals that past school experiences figure largely in present home school rationales and practices. Public school administrators need to acknowledge the effects of the past experiences of home schoolers, dispel their fears, and treat them as partners in the education process. (BJV)