This policy brief discusses "switchers" and "non-switchers" in the context of choice programs with broad eligibility (universal and near-universal choice programs). Switchers are students who would have enrolled in a public school without any financial assistance from a choice program. Non-switchers are students who would have…

Historically, private education has been an option mostly for families who could afford the cost or received financial help. Years of research have shown that many families would choose private schools and other educational resources for their children if they did not face insurmountable financial or geographical limitations. Private educational…

Over the last quarter-century, tax-credit scholarship (TCS) policies have helped hundreds of thousands of American families provide their children with the learning environment that meets their individual needs. Although less well-known than school vouchers, TCS policies are the most-used form of private school choice. Now available in 23 states,…

The Education Scholarship Account Act allows parents to use the funds that would have been allocated to their child at their resident school district for an education program of the parents' choosing. The Act identifies student eligibility as well as approved educational expenses. The Act establishes procedures for parents to apply to the ESA…

This interactive resource provides information on state private school choice policies specific to vouchers, education savings accounts and scholarship tax credits. It highlights the various ways in which states approach specific private school choice policies. It is worth noting that some states have more than one private school choice program.…

This report argues that the Michigan state constitution's "Blaine Amendment," a provision which prevents parents from drawing on state funding to go outside the public school system, is superseded by the United States Supreme Court's 2020 ruling in the case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. The report discusses a legislative…

Unlike vouchers and tax credit scholarships that do not allow parents to customize their children's education, Education savings accounts (ESAs) provide funding to pay for part-time classes at public and private schools, tutoring, curricula, services for special needs, and more. As navigating the opportunities that come with ESAs can be difficult,…

This report finds that Massachusetts provides fewer options for students to be educated outside their assigned school districts than most other states do, and educational savings accounts (ESAs) offer an effective tool for giving students additional opportunities. Author Cara Candal proposes two potential ESA programs for Massachusetts.

In order to realize all the benefits of parental-choice programs, advocates, policymakers, and participating schools have to pay more attention to implementation challenges, both when designing parental-choice policies and after new programs are enacted. This report discusses both categories of implementation challenges. The first…

The philosophy of education choice is the belief that every child deserves access to a quality education that fits their needs. Education choice includes public, private, and non-traditional schooling options like open enrollment public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, home schooling, online learning, vouchers, tax-credit…

The full reach of the U.S. Supreme court's 2020 ruling in "Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue" has yet to be seen, but it has the potential to reshape the school-choice landscape. The ruling, which prohibited Montana from excluding students at religious schools from a tax-credit scholarship program, will figure prominently in many…

Each student has unique needs and learns in different ways. By allowing parents to plan for their children's individual needs, education scholarship accounts (ESAs) create a personal approach to education. This report presents: (1) What are education scholarship accounts?; (2) How can parents use ESA funds?; (3) Which states have Educaation…

In March 2019, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a proposal to establish a new, nationwide federal tax-credit scholarship program. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-AL) introduced a companion proposal in the House. Although Congress' support of school choice is praiseworthy, a federal tax-credit scholarship program poses a threat to education…

Student performance on standardized tests in Louisiana has trailed national averages for decades. In the 2017 8th-grade reading results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Louisiana public schools tied for 42nd in the nation and rated significantly higher than only one jurisdiction, the District of Columbia. Only 25 percent of…

Despite the myriad of challenges that families, students, teachers and policymakers faced in 2021, the momentum to transform education did not waver. New opportunities for students unfolded in more than a dozen states through expanded private and public school choice. An additional 1.7 million students gained eligibility for private choice alone,…