This document records testimony from a hearing before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary Education of the Committee on Education and the Workforce that was held to examine school choice. Opening statements were provided by: (1) Honorable Aaron Bean, Chairman, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary…

Educational choice programs--defined broadly as programs that provide parents with financial aid to help their children opt out of the traditional public school system--are a hallmark of meaningful educational reform. Yet despite widespread news coverage of such programs, polls show most Americans are unfamiliar with how educational choice…

Educational choice programs--defined broadly as programs that provide parents with financial aid to help their children opt out of the traditional public school system--are a hallmark of meaningful educational reform. Yet despite widespread news coverage of such programs, polls show most Americans are unfamiliar with how educational choice…

This publication presents the 2009-2010 edition of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice's "ABCs of School Choice". The "ABCs of School Choice" provides the latest in up-to-date and accurate information about the many school choice success stories taking place throughout the country. Readers will find this guide an…

School choice is a common sense idea that gives all parents the power and freedom to choose their child's education, while encouraging healthy competition among schools and other institutions to better serve students' needs and priorities. It is a public policy that allows a parent/guardian or student to choose a district, charter, or private…

This report collects the results of all available empirical studies using the best available scientific methods to measure how school vouchers affect academic outcomes for participants, and all available studies on how vouchers affect outcomes in public schools. Contrary to the widespread claim that vouchers do not benefit participants and hurt…

Studies of existing best practices cannot determine whether the current "best" schooling practices could be even better, less costly, or more effective and/or improve at a faster rate, but we can discover a cost effective menu of schooling options and each item's minimum cost through market accountability experiments. This paper describes…

Examines the pros and cons of several family-oriented initiatives offered by President Clinton and Senator Bob Dole during their 1996 campaigns. These include tuition tax credits, volunteer tutoring programs, across-the-board tax breaks, and school voucher programs. (HTH)

Because Americans are spending increasing sums on education without noticeable improvement in student achievement, school choice is becoming the hottest item on today's reform agenda. Choice must not be limited to the affluent; it is most needed by financially poor parents whose children are trapped in the most inferior schools. The chief…

Discusses why government school vouchers actually represent a setback to school reform and only contribute to diminishing school autonomy and distinctiveness. Argues use of a privately funded voucher system or precollege scholarship approach as feasible alternatives for educating low-income children. Alternatives include the need for tax relief,…

This statistically representative survey of 1,203 likely Virginia voters illustrates public opinion on a wide range of K-12 education issues. The underlying purpose of the Friedman Foundation's state surveys is to measure voter knowledge and attitudes toward public institutions and policies, innovative ideas, and the state's K-12 education system.…

Jeb Bush campaigned for Governor on a clear and bracing set of education reforms in 1998. Having won office, he immediately pursued a dual track strategy of education reform: standards and accountability for public schools, choice options for dissatisfied parents. Florida lawmakers followed these reforms with additional measures, including…

In 2004 the Arizona Education Policy Initiative (AEPI), a collaboration of Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona, conducted its first-annual survey of parents in a systematic effort to capture parent opinion and establish a framework for tracking parent views over time. Assessing parent opinion is…

The Arizona Education Policy Initiative (AEPI), a collaboration of Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona, conducted a statewide telephone survey to get parents' perspectives on the condition of education in the state. From March 17 to March 27, 2004, a statewide random sample of 400 Arizona parents…