Press reports tend to draw a hard line between the 17 states which enacted universal school choice programs when both their legislatures and governors were Republican and the 33 others which have not. But it would be more accurate to say that choice is expanding everywhere, just with different structures. Even in states where at least one […]
School Choice Expands to Purple and Blue States Read More »
In less than three years universal school choice policies have been adopted by 14 states, all Republican leaning. Given the growing desire of education reformers to make similar progress in America’s more liberal bastions, the Blue State Action Coalition recently asked Andy Rotherham, co-founder of Bellwether Education, to host an April 2 webinar on “How to
How to Talk to a Skeptic about School Choice Read More »
Until recently, the biggest challenge facing education reformers was persuading local politicians in states with powerful teacher unions to legalize what has come to be known as “school choice” — the public subsidy of multiple K-12th grade learning options. For while Americans have always had the legal right to educate their children outside the local
Churches Bring School Choice to Blue States Read More »
It is hardly news that homeschooling has taken off around the country, especially since Covid. Over the last year alone, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, the number of US homeschooled students has gone from 3.6 million to 4 million—an 11 percent increase. Less well-known is the role America’s churches have played in not
How Churches Support the Growth of Homeschooling Read More »
Ever since June of 2022, when Arizona became the first state to legalize universal school choice, the adoption of this K–12th grade education reform has accelerated well beyond even its boosters’ wildest dreams. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia have all enacted policies which fund families to educate
K-12 School Choice Will Improve Higher Education Read More »
Because teachers’ unions play such an important role in today’s Democratic Party, it is widely assumed that school choice — the policy of letting families use taxpayer dollars to educate their children as they wish — is a Republican or conservative program. And while it’s true that teachers’ unions will instantly turn on any Democrat
The Secret History of the School Choice Left Read More »
The spread of school choice and rise of remote work are two of today’s most significant social trends. In the last year alone, seven states — Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia — have followed Arizona’s lead in adopting statewide policies which fund families to educate their children in whatever
The Great Detachment Read More »
It has only been a year since Arizona passed the country’s first comprehensive school choice program. But since then, seven other states, including Florida, have followed suit with at least eight more on track to adopt similar bills in the near future. Families who take advantage of such legislation typically get a separate account from the state
School Choice Will Sharply Boost the Economy Read More »
In a surprise development, teachers’ unions in eight states recently announced drives to pass legislation that would establish so-called “wealth taxes.” Working with progressive legislators in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Washington, the unions have devised what they believe are the best ways to tap, not just the incomes, but the
Teacher Unions Unwittingly Promote School Choice Read More »
A new Arizona law which funds all the state’s K-12th grade children to attend a school of their family’s choosing, public or private, has been widely hailed as a landmark education reform, although evidence suggests the benefits will go far beyond academics. Studies by the Manhattan Institute, New Jersey’s E3, and Connecticut’s Yankee Institute all show that subsidizing students to use
Universal School Choice Will Transform Every Community Read More »