Why school choice is succeeding

By Kevin P. Chavous

Michael Q. McShane wrote yesterday, “Why School Choice is Failing.” His thought provoking piece raised some very important points, but fails to illustrate how school choice is succeeding, the several solutions already in place to address his concerns, and how school choice advocates are laying the groundwork for even greater impact.

McShane’s issues boil down to three points: Filling excess capacity, encouraging high-quality schools to scale-up and creating new high-quality schools, the latter two McShane argues that school choice programs are “lousy at.”

The majority of us who are involved in the education reform movement are focused on advancing parental choice as central component of fundamental, meaningful, and impactful reform to provide children with better options that generate better educational outcomes. It’s both smart policy and a matter of social justice. However, when a child moves from a public school to a private school through an educational choice program, and receives the same failed outcome, that is not a success. And, this is where McShane has it right.

Special Needs Students One Step Closer to School Choice in North Carolina

We'd like to applaud the North Carolina Senate for passing House Bill 269, which would create a program to provide children with disabilities with access to the education of their parents’ choice.

House Bill 269, also known as Children with Disabilities Scholarship Grants, heads back to the North Carolina House for a final vote before heading to the governor’s desk. If passed, the bill would provide grants of up to $6,000 to children with disabilities to cover private school tuition and related special education services.

Access to a quality education is a right of all students. We are glad to see the North Carolina Senate took the steps necessary to pass this bill, and to work with the House to ensure special needs students can receive the best education to fit their unique needs.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, Kristen Tyagi

Education Over Politics

One’s political affiliation should not dictate their stance on educational options, including opportunity scholarship programs, says StudentsFirst’s Michelle Rhee in her new book, “Radical: Fighting to Put Students First."

Rhee, who previously served as the chancellor of the D.C. public school system, is a lifelong Democrat, something that she says squares perfectly with her support for vouchers. 

When Rhee arrived in D.C., she was faced with a dilemma.  Families had been enjoying the benefits of the city’s Opportunity Scholarship program, but this program went against what she thought she should believe as a Democrat. Rather than rejecting the program, Rhee decided to meet with families across the city and get a sense of their stories.  She soon discovered that countless families across the city depended on the scholarship program to deliver their children with a high quality education.

“After my listening tour of families, and hearing so many parents plead for an immediate solution to their desire for a quality education, I came out in favor of the voucher program,” Rhee recalls.  “People went nuts. Democrats chastised me for going against the party, but the most vocal detractors were my biggest supporters.”

Across the board, Democrats and Republicans tend to agree on the issue of providing tax dollars to private hospital institutions, Rhee says.  Schools should not be an exception.  

“Our approach should be no different for our children,” she says. “Their lives are at stake when we’re talking about the quality of education they are receiving.”

Rhee isn’t alone.  Doug Tuthill, President of Step Up For Students, is as a progressive Democrat and even served as president of two local teachers unions in Florida.

In a recent piece for the Huffington Post, Tuthill says the number of Democrats siding with educational choice is a growing trend. 

“Despite charges to the contrary, school choice is not a right-wing plot to privatize public education,” Tuthill writes.  “McGovern, Moynihan and Humphrey were not right-wing zealots, and neither are the increasing numbers of modern Democrats who want to give more options to underprivileged and struggling students.”

With bills under consideration in Texas, North Carolina and Tennessee to create voucher programs, bipartisan support is necessary!  With substantial learning gaps between students based on their family’s income, it is time our leaders put politics aside and take a stand for students.  Providing low-income families with educational options is a proven way to close the achievement gap and give all students a fair shot at a quality education and bright future.

-American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, KMS

2013: The Year of Education Choice?

While more students than ever have access to educational options this year—and you can get the full slate of numbers when our annual School Choice Yearbook is released next week—thousands more are still unable to attend the school of their choice. 

Robert Enlow, president and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, recently wrote an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, calling on lawmakers across the country to expand or grant access to choice programs being considered in their state.

Echoes of Support for School Choice, Disappointment in Setbacks

You'll recall that, last month, we decried another setback of the Opportunity Scholarship Act in New Jersey, and it turns out that we're far from the only ones who were upset about the inability of the legislature to pass school choice legislation. 


In a letter to the editor appearing in the Courier Post, a Voohees, N.J., resident echoed the same frustration shared by advocates around the state:  political games are blocking a bipartisan bill that could help thousands of Garden State children.

Published yesterday in the Courier Post, one school choice supporter wrote:

The parents of children in Camden and several other cities in New Jersey can thank Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver, D-Essex, for keeping their children trapped in failing schools for yet another year.

The Opportunity Scholarship Act would have created a corporate scholarship tax credit program for students from low-income families in failing school districts to attend public or private schools of their parents’ choice.

The bill had strong bipartisan support and more than enough votes to pass in both the Assembly and the Senate, which is why Oliver obstinately refused to post the bill for a vote.

Another legislative session ends. Another opportunity for urban kids to succeed dies.

What constituency are you protecting, Mrs. Oliver? The teachers’ unions? The entrenched educational bureaucracy? It certainly isn’t poor, minority children of this state desperately in need of access to a quality education.

Brandon Leads Education Reform Fight in North Carolina

NC Rep. Marcus Brandon (D), speaking at a March 2012
luncheon hosted by the Black Alliance for Educational Options and
sponsored by the American Federation for Children.

While being a freshman legislator may leave some without a vision or the leadership abilities to achieve that vision, North Carolina Representative Marcus Brandon (D) is not your typical freshman legislator.  After unseating a four-term incumbent in January 2011—he has since defeated that same incumbent again in a primary battle last month—Brandon got right to work on reforming the Tar Heel State’s education system.

But his focus on helping improve the educational outcomes of children across the state is something that predates even his election to the North Carolina Assembly in November 2010. Here's what Brandon had to say during an interview with the Greensboro News-Record during an interview from September 2010:

Our educational system, although improvements have been made, continues to leave most of our children behind. We have been talking about the Education Gap since I was in Kindergarten. We have to change the focus from one on all students in a collective to a focus on individual students. In other words we should ask, “How does Johnny learn and what makes him successful?” rather than “How many students should be in a classroom for the most effective learning environment?” I want to put the decisions in the hands of the actual stakeholders in education: these being the Students, Parents, and Teachers. They should define what quality education means for their community, not completely removed legislators in Raleigh.

Brandon, who represents Guilford County, which encompasses Greensboro, occupies an especially important post for someone intent on passing education reform legislation. As a member of the Finance Committee and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, Brandon wants to make changes to the state constitution to provide a truly high-quality education to every child:

As your representative I will champion an amendment to our state constitution that makes equality in education in North Carolina a constitutional right.

Legislative Update: From the Bayou State to the Granite State

The school choice world was abuzz yesterday with exciting news from our nation’s capital, but D.C. isn’t the only place where school choice news is brewing.  Here’s a legislative and news update on bills all across the nation:

Louisiana

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved measures on the framework for the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program, which was expanded statewide earlier this year.  BESE included a new provision, creating a cap on how much private schools can raise tuition as they accept voucher students. The state Department of Education is continuing to develop accountability requirements for the program.

The expanded program is set to begin in the 2012-13 school year with more than 5,000 scholarships spots available in schools statewide.

New Hampshire

Governor John Lynch yesterday vetoed legislation that would create a scholarship tax credit program in the Granite State.  Senate Bill 372 would allow businesses to donate to scholarship organizations that would provide scholarships to children from low- and middle-income families.  The veto comes despite broad support for the legislation in both chambers of the legislature, which passed the bill with a veto-proof majority.  In his veto message, Lynch falsely cited that the bill had no income restrictions, despite the legislation requiring that students come from families with a household income of 300 percent or less.

The legislature is set to convene on June 27, where it can take up the bill and override Governor Lynch’s veto.

North Carolina

The Equal Opportunity School Tax Credit, proposed legislation that would provide scholarships for students from low-income families to attend the public or private school of their parents’ choice, has been integrated into a larger education overhaul bill.  The House Education Committee rolled HB 1104 into the Excellent Public Schools Act, which also includes measures to grow public school reading programs, end teacher tenure, and implement merit pay.

Correcting the Record on the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program

Legislators in North Carolina are looking to enact House Bill 1104, a scholarship tax credit program that will help students from low-income families.  The bill has strong bipartisan support and includes high academic, financial, and administrative accountability standards. 

And despite attempts from opponents to paint an inaccurate picture of what the legislation is going to do, our friends at Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) have been making sure that the bill—and school choice more generally—are accurately portrayed in the media.

Yesterday, Darrell Allison, president of PEFNC, wrote in The Ashville Citizen Times that, despite an opponent writing recently that the proposed legislation was "nonsense," quality educational options are in reality far from it:

Tangela is a working mom currently looking for an alternative education for her son but has not been able to find an affordable option that meets his needs.

House Bill 1104 N.C. Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program allows corporations to receive a tax credit for contributions helping poor children attend a nonpublic school through scholarships. The Citizen-Times claims this would divert needed funds away from public schools, but research has shown that Florida, one of nine states with a tax credit scholarship program, has saved more than $98 million since 2001. House Bill 1104 is expected to save North Carolina more than $28 million within the first three years which can then be reinvested into public schools.

“I don’t think it’s nonsense to give my sons an equal opportunity to succeed in school,” Tangela said. “When I hear how children like mine are performing on state tests, now that’s nonsense because they deserve better.”

And Allison was doing the same in The Star News last week:

Legislative Spotlight: North Carolina

Legislation: House Bill 1104

Title: Scholarship Funding Corporate Tax Credit

Primary Sponsors: Majority Leader Paul Stam (R), Representative William Brisson (D), Representative Mike Hager (R), Representative Marcus Brandon (D)

Bill Status: Referred to Committee on Education

The North Carolina legislature is considering House Bill 1104, which would create a scholarship tax credit program that would provide scholarships to students from low-income families to attend the private or public school of their parents’ choice.  The program, which has strong bipartisan support, would be the thirteenth scholarship tax credit program in the nation.  Last year, North Carolina created a tax credit for children with disabilities that allows for a tax deduction on education expenses, including private school tuition.

Program Type

Corporate Scholarship Tax Credit

Student Eligibility

• Family income cannot exceed 225 percent of the federal poverty level
• Attended public schools the previous year or entering kindergarten or first grade

Scholarship Funding Organization (SFO) Requirements

• Certified by the Division of Nonpublic Education of the Department of Administration
• Apply annually to participate in the program
• Use at least 91 percent of contributions for scholarships
• SFOs with fewer than 24 months of certification must use 100 percent of contributions for scholarships
• Does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, or national origin
• Make scholarships available to more than one school
• Submit to the state:
• Annual financial and compliance audit by certified public accountant
• Annual report on data of scholarship recipients, donations, and participating schools

Get your Feet Marching the in Tar Heel State!

Hundreds of school choice supporters will be rallying tomorrow at the State Capitol tomorrow in support of the Opportunity Scholarship Program.  Organized by the Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, students, parents, state lawmakers, and education reform advocates will participate in a presentation on educational options in North Carolina. 

Last year, lawmakers created the Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities, which allows parents to receive a tax credit for educational expenses, including private school tuition.  And this year, lawmakers are again working to create more educational options for students in North Carolina with the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program, a corporate scholarship tax credit program that would  allow children from low-income families to receive scholarships to attend the school of their parents’ choice.

In a symbolic march three times around the General Assembly building—to object to the 30 percent achievement gap between children from low-income families and other students in North Carolina—the rally will show the desperate need for real educational options.

Who: You!

What: Rally to Support the Opportunity Scholarship Act

When: Tuesday, May 22 at 12:15 p.m

Where: Children’s Garden, located on Wilmington Street across from the North Carolina General Assembly

Data Snapshot: North Carolina

With the release of the Alliance for School Choice's School Choice Yearbook 2011-12 (available for download here), we'll spend the next few days on School Choice Now! highlighting some of the new data and research it contains.

In 2011, North Carolina created its first private school choice option for families living in the Tar Heel State with the creation of the Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities.  An Individual Tuition Tax Credit of significant size, this option will allow parents of special needs students to receive a state income tax credit of up to $6,000 for educational expenses, including private school tuition. 

2011 Results

• Number of School Choice Programs: 1

Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities

An individual tuition tax credit for children with disabilities created in 2011.

2012 Outlook

North Carolina is looking to create even more school choice options in 2012 for students with special needs and children from low-income families.  With bipartisan support, we should expect to see some real educational options in the Tar Heel State.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

PEFNC Chief Talks Refreshingly About School Choice in the Tar Heel State

Last week the University of North Carolina Law School hosted a discussion titled The State of Education in North Carolina: Addressing the Constitutional Implications. There were a number of prominent names in the education reform and civil rights spheres on hand, including the following group:

• Dean Boger, moderating
• Matthew Ellinwood, North Carolina Justice Center, Policy Advocate Education Law Project
• Dr. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation, Education Studies Director
• Neal Ramee, Tharrington Smith, Education Lawyer
• Darrell Allison, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, President
• Mark Dorosin, Center for Civil Rights, Senior Managing Attorney

Each of the folks above has a specific area of expertise and significant experience discussion the plight of public education in America as well as ways to improve it, but one person in particular has been a longtime friend of the Federation and the Alliance, in a state where we're working to bring even more choice that already exists.

That man is Darrell Allison, the president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina. Always a man with a gift for eloquence in making the case for expanded educational options, Allison was particularly clear about why school choice is so important during his talk at UNC Law last week.

More 'Awesome' Bipartisan Support for School Choice in North Carolina

Families of children with special needs in North Carolina have new hope today, thanks to a new tax credit measure passed by the legislature with strong bipartisan support and awaiting approval by the governor.

House Bill 344 passed the House by a 94-20 margin and a 44-5 margin in the Senate. A total of 65 percent of Democratic legislators supported the measure, and Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) led the effort to generate support for the proposal, rallying thousands of parents on behalf of school choice.

If enacted, North Carolina would become the 14th state or jurisdiction in the United States to provide parents with access to private schools through school vouchers or scholarship tax credits.

Here's PEFNC president Darrell Allison (emphasis ours):

With this strong showing of support within and beyond the legislature, our hope is that this is enough compelling evidence for our governor to support this measure with her signature. With a stroke of her pen, thousands of families will be able to afford placing their special needs children in educational environments that meet all of their needs. Pending the governor’s approval, this will be the first piece of K-12 legislation that gives parents statewide choice regarding public and private education in North Carolina; in a word, awesome.

This comes just a week after the legislature voted to eliminate the state’s 100-school cap on charter schools, a measure that also passed with strong bipartisan support.

Here's the full release about today's news from PEFNC.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MAG

BREAKING NEWS: North Carolina Legislature Passes Bipartisan Bill to Lift Charter School Cap

The North Carolina Senate this afternoon passed Senate Bill 8—which would lift the arbitrary cap on the number of charter schools in the state—by a stunning 45-0 margin, followed soon after by a favorable 108-5 vote on companion legislation in the House. The bill now heads to Gov. Bev Perdue's desk to be signed into law.

Here's a statement from Darrell Allison, the president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC):

Yesterday, North Carolina families were shackled by the restrictive cap of 100 charter schools, but today we’re moving in a new direction that will loosen those shackles for many of our children. I want to salute our state leaders for moving on this measure in a bipartisan effort. There’s still much work to be done, including equitable funding for charters and creating a better environment in which how charters are governed. But there’s no denying that today was a truly good day and we look forward to Governor Perdue making this a historic day with her signature once the measure reaches her desk. Though we’re happy where we are, we know that we still have more work to be done, particularly with our grassroots campaign calls to our governor in hopes that she will sign the measure soon so that this public school option can be made available to thousands of families across our state.

 Read the full PEFNC release here.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MAG

Partisanship Schmartisanship

You'll often hear about how school choice is a partisan issue. Only Republicans support it, and all Democrats oppose it, right?

While it's true that special interests have politicized what is at its core a question of doing what's right for kids (and it really shouldn't be a question at all), but courageous Democrats have been coming out in droves over the years on the side of helping children and supporting expanded educational options—be it quality public charter schools, high-achieving traditional public schools, vouchers, or scholarship tax credits. We're hopeful that we'll one day reach a point when we can look back and marvel at why we did all this partisan bickering.

In fact, that point might be closer than we think.

In today's Charlotte Observer, two Democratic legislators take a huge step towards that point in a strong endorsement of a bill that would eliminate the state's arbitrary and ineffective cap on charter schools. Here's a snippet:

Oh, And One More Thing About Special Needs Scholarships...

In our discussion yesterday about the benefits of special needs scholarship programs, we failed to mention that public support for school voucher (and scholarship tax credit) programs for children with special needs is overwhelming.

Seriously, these types of programs are off-the-charts popular. Case in point: North Carolina.

In the Tar Heel State, school choice advocates, led by the highly effective group Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, are fighting to pass a special needs scholarship tax credit.

They polled public support for the program, and the numbers were astronomical: A February 2011 poll found that 82 percent of likely Democratic voters favor a program that would allow special needs children to attend a nonpublic school that meets their needs.
Yes...you read that right. Likely Democratic voters.

Eighty-two percent support special needs scholarships!

Wow.

Now, here's the nitty gritty of the bill:

-- The Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities Act, House Bill 344, which passed the Education Committee on April 26, would provide tax credits up to $6,000 for parents of special needs children for nonpublic tuition and other services.

-- North Carolina has nearly 200,000 special needs children in public schools.  Currently, North Carolina pays $8,160 and school districts pay $1,931 per student to attend a public school that often fails students with special needs.  This program will create more educational options to children and be a financial lifeline to hundreds of thousands of families.

-- Experts say that up to five percent of qualified students would take advantage of the tax credit, which would save the state $10 million per year and school districts $9.2 million per year.

Learn more at www.pefnc.org

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, ARC