Nearly 70 years after Milton Friedman first proposed K-12 education vouchers, students in Arizona, Iowa, Utah, West Virginia, and other states can customize their education using education savings accounts (ESAs). ESAs allow parents to spend public education funding on expenses such as private school tuition, tutoring, and homeschooling curricula.…

The U.S. Department of Education has projected enrollment declines over the next decade, leading to budget cuts for school districts, which will be particularly impactful in urban and rural areas serving vulnerable students. As federal COVID-19 funds expire, districts will face challenges in cutting costs, potentially leading to layoffs or school…

In the United States, students are assigned to public schools based on where they live. School districts have set boundaries and students living in the neighborhoods within those boundaries attend the district's schools. The district's boundaries are further delineated into attendance zones, in which particular homes and neighborhoods are assigned…

New York City has the largest public school district in the U.S., but the city's diverse educational landscape also includes charter, private, and religious schools, all of which have undergone a major transformation in the two years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two school years, overall school enrollment in the city was down by…

This report arrives during a time of heightened scrutiny and civic engagement. While public attention is currently trained primarily on Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), this research encompasses the whole of the city's education system, marking both commonalities and differences between different types of publicly funded schools. It highlights…

Approximately 650,000 military dependent children in the U.S. face various challenges that may affect their schooling, according to Department of Defense (DOD). The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine the schooling options available to school-age dependents of active-duty servicemembers. This report describes: (1) available…

Today, nearly all states either offer or allow digital learning in some form, with instruction provided by a variety of providers. This instruction typically takes one of three forms: (1) Full-time virtual schools: Students take their entire course load online via an independent, charter, or district-sponsored program; (2) Blended learning models:…

Education refers to school choice as the opportunity for students and their families to create high-quality, personalized paths for learning that best meet the students' needs. For Indian students, school choice can be a means of accessing instructional programs that reflect and preserve their languages, cultures, and histories. For many years,…

For nearly three decades, charter schools have provided families with a public school alternative to traditional district schools, but they have not been without controversy. Charter schools often come under fire for "privatizing" education, for "creaming" the best students, or for taking money from district schools. The…

The Public School Forum of North Carolina is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on improving educational outcomes for all North Carolina children. As they do each year, they have released a list of the "Top 10 Education Issues" they believe will be the top issues for the year, as well as issues they believe should be on the…

The strength and effectiveness of the American public school system has risen to the top of our national agenda in a way not seen since the Cold War. In short, the civic health of communities, the states, and the nation is inextricably entwined with the capacity and the potency of public schools. In this brief, the authors argue that mayors, as…

The purpose of this fact sheet is to make this information easily available to policymakers, activists, and parents/caregivers, and to contribute to a substantive discussion about developing equitable educational opportunities for all children.

Growth of voucher and education savings account (ESA) programs has drawn attention to how states ensure accountability and transparency to parents and the public. With over half of voucher and ESA programs designed for students with disabilities, there is interest in the information parents receive about special education services and rights when…

As the Public School Forum enters its 31st year, they continue the tradition of forecasting the ten issues most likely to impact public schools across the state in "Top Ten Education Issues for 2017." As they do each year, they have included in the list issues they believe will be the top education issues for the year, as well as issues…

In 2011, Indiana enacted the broadest school voucher program in the country. In the program's first year, almost 4,000 families used vouchers to attend participating private schools, with the number of students applying for vouchers more than doubling in each of the following two years, to 9,324 students in 2012-13, and 19,809 in 2013-14. The…