School Choice

The education crisis in America hits low-income families, African Americans and Hispanic Americans the hardest.

We believe that the best way to improve education is to put parents in charge. When parents are given the option to use their tax dollars and choose the best schools for their children—public or private—education in America will improve.

Today, more than 151,000 children benefit from private school choice programs across the country. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that educational freedom has a positive, transformational impact on families, schools and communities.

There are several different forms of private school choice programs. The following are examples of school choice programs that have been implemented or proposed.

Opportunity scholarship programs provide parents with scholarships to send their children to the school of their choice. In some opportunity scholarship programs, eligibilityis means-tested, meaning that programs are specifically targeted to low-income families. In other scholarship programs, there is universal eligibility, but scholarships are determined based on household income and provided on a sliding scale.

Special needs scholarship programs allow parents of children with special needs to receive vouchers to send their children to the school of their choice.

Foster child scholarship programs allow foster children, who are often forced to change schools many times over the course of their K-12 education, with the opportunity to receive vouchers to attend the school of their guardian’s choice.

G.I. Junior programs allow children in military families, who are often forced to attend failing schools, with the opportunity to receive vouchers to attend the school of their parent’s choice.

Corporate scholarship tax credit programs allow corporations to donate money to Scholarship Granting Organizations and receive tax credits for their contributions. Scholarship Granting Organizations provide private school choice opportunities to low-income or otherwise disadvantaged children.

Individual scholarship tax credit programs allow individuals to donate money to Scholarship Granting Organizations and receive tax credits for their contributions. Scholarship Granting Organizations provide private school choice opportunities for low income or otherwise disadvantaged children.

Myth: School choice drains funds from public schools that need it most.

Reality: Studies have consistently demonstrated that, with private school choice programs, school districts retain a portion of the funding for each child who leaves the public system. In effect, while some of the money "follows the child" in school choice programs, districts still retain a portion of the per-pupil funding, even though they don’t have to educate the student.

Myth: Private school choice is unconstitutional because it sends government money to religious schools.

Reality: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that appropriately-designed private school choice programs are fully Constitutional. School choice is based on the core beliefs that: a) the ‘government’s money’ comes from you, the taxpayer; b) choice programs fund children, not schools; and c) parents know best where to send their children to receive a good education.

Myth: School choice is just a Republican, right-wing issue.

Reality: School choice is truly a bipartisan issue. In 2007, more than 90 percent of new funding for school choice programs was enacted by Democratic governors or Democratically-controlled state legislatures. Prominent Democratic leaders—such as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, former District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams, and former U.S. Representative Carrie Meek—have spoken out in favor of private school choice programs.

Myth: School choice hurts achievement in public schools.

Reality: No study has ever demonstrated that school choice hurts public schools in any way, shape, or form. Without competition and meaningful parental choice, rapid reform and dramatic improvements in public schools will not be realized. When parents are given an option to choose the best schools for their children, public schools will have to resist special interest and improve faster. In fact, studies have demonstrated that school choice programs have lead to an improvement in public school quality.

Myth: Private school choice programs don’t work. Students don’t learn more.

Reality: When you look at the credible research available on several school choice programs such as programs in Milwaukee, Florida, and Cleveland—you will see that in every case, students who participate in these programs work hard and produce higher academic achievement. Parent satisfaction is extremely high, and students love their new schools.

Myth: There is no accountability in private schools. We don’t know if they’re succeeding.

Reality: The vast majority of private schools have rigorous evaluation criteria. In addition, parents, not the government, are best equipped to know when their children succeed. For example, if you see that your child comes home with a bad report card, you hold your child and the school accountable. True accountability is giving families the freedom to make the right choices for their children.

Myth: The problem with private school choice is that schools won’t be required to accept children. More specifically, schools won’t be required to accept disabled children, and they’ll be left out.

Reality: The people who run private schools want to help children, especially disadvantaged children and children with disabilities. Many private schools are built just to help children and families who are most in need. Several successful private school choice programs are designed specifically to provide much-needed support to children with special needs.

Myth: Because of No Child Left Behind, we already have school choice.

Reality: No Child Left Behind requires school districts to provide public school choice opportunities to children in schools that have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress after two years. However, despite polls that demonstrate strong support for school choice nationwide, less than two percent of students have been able to access the public school transfer provisions of NCLB.