An Accountability Update

In addition to the progress in 2012—with five new programs enacted and six existing programs strengthened—the educational choice movement has seen a significant increase in accountability standards in private school choice programs across the country.

Among the programs that have seen new accountability standards:

• Louisiana’s Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program
• Among other requirements, a participating school that receives a low Scholarship Cohort Index score cannot enroll additional scholarship recipients for the next school year. Scholarship students attending a participating school labeled failing will have first priority admission to attend another participating school the following year. 
• Pennsylvania’s Educational Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit
• The new scholarship tax credit program for students attending Pennsylvania’s worst performing public schools requires additional reporting and transparency measures for Scholarship Organizations, including reporting the number of scholarships awarded to students from low-income families.
• Virginia’s Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits
• The scholarship tax credit program created in 2012 requires participating private schools to measure annually scholarship students’ progress in reading and math with a national, norm-referenced achievement test and report those results to the state.  Beginning in the program’s third year, those results will be published on the Department of Education’s website.

 Check out the Alliance for School Choice’s 2012 Private School Choice Accountability Update for more information on accountability standards in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.

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

Ohhh...We're Halfway There!

While most of the nation is focused on staying cool during a recording-setting heat wave, the weather isn’t the only place where records are being set.  This week marks the halfway point of the year, and it's been school choice success after success so far in 2012.

Already this year, there have been four new programs enacted in Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Hampshire—making for 31 programs nationwide, to anyone who is counting. That brings the total number of voucher programs to 16 and scholarship tax credit programs to 13. 

In fact, check out the 2012 Breakthrough Victories for Children handout, which updates the 2011-12 School Choice Yearbook published earlier this year by the Alliance for School Choice.  But in the meantime, here are some significant and fun facts on the momentum of school choice:

• Four new programs have been created in Louisiana, New Hampshire, Mississippi, and Virginia in 2012. 
• Five programs have been expanded in four states in 2012—Arizona expanded both its Individual School Tuition Organization Tax Credit and its Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program.
• Three states—the most in any year so far—have joined the family of states providing private school choice.
• Thanks to the statewide expansion of Louisiana’s Student Scholarships for Excellence Program, 380,000 children are eligible under the program.
• School choice has seen a 98.3 percent growth in number of programs in last five years and a 63.6 percent increase in the number of states offering such programs.
• In the 2011-12 legislation session, 35 chambers in 19 states passed private school choice legislation.  That’s a 40 percent increase in the number of chambers and a 35.7 percent increase in the number of states since the 2009-10 legislative session.
• Nearly one-third of states (32 percent) have enacted private school choice programs.
• Mississippi and Ohio are the only two states that have voucher programs for specific special needs—dyslexia and autism respectively.  Across the nation there are 11 programs specifically tailored for students with special needs.
• With future enrollment caps due to be lifted in places like Indiana and Racine, Wis., and with statewide expansions like in Louisiana, one million children could be eligible to participate in private school choice programs in the next few years.

Download our Yearbook and the corresponding update sheet for all the numbers.

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

Setting the Record Straight

The conversation about school choice has been making the rounds in national media lately, following Mitt Romney's inclusion of a voucher proposal in his recently-unveiled education plan, large expansions in Louisiana and Arizona, and the creation of new programs in places like Virginia and the aforementioned Bayou State.

It has all resulted in a crush of media attention, all of which has not been accurate, fair, or unbiased.

Instead of focusing on the evidence showing the benefits of school choice, many editorial boards and reporters have taken to conveying many of the common myths of school choice. But our resident myth-buster, senior advisor Kevin P. Chavous, has made short work of their claims in exposing the truth about choice.

In fact, here’s what Kevin wrote in yesterday’s Boston Globe, in response to a Globe editorial earlier this month:

The Globe’s June 2 editorial “ Romney’s education plan offers serious, debate-worthy proposals” strongly mischaracterized current voucher programs in Milwaukee and Washington, D.C., as yielding “unimpressive results.” The evidence of success of these programs can be clearly seen in the graduation rates of participating students.  

The D.C. voucher program is especially impressive on that indicator. The US Department of Education evaluation of the program found that students who used the vouchers graduated at a rate of 91 percent, more than 30 points higher than the graduation rates of D.C. public school students. An evaluation of the Milwaukee program also found higher graduation rates, and that students are more likely to enroll and persist in a four-year college than their public school peers. 

Furthermore, the D.C. voucher program boosted student reading scores, and students in the Milwaukee program showed improvement in both reading and science. 

For thousands of low-income families across the nation, school choice is a lifeline that rescues children from failing schools and struggling districts. As the bipartisan coalition supporting these initiatives expands, it’s important that politicians, parents, and citizens have a clear picture of the benefits of choice for families in need.

But that's not all. Kevin has also published responses to unfair stories in the New York Times and in a local Louisiana publication in response to a recent Reuters piece about the expansions in Louisiana. He's also worked feverishly to respond to a host of other stories that have appeared in recent weeks, and we'll be sure to share those with you when they're published, too.

Breakthrough Victories: A Legislative Update

The Wall Street Journal called 2011 “The Year of School Choice,” and we think 2012 is the year for breakthrough victories for children, the theme of the American Federation for Children’s third annual National Policy Summit, held earlier this month.

So what have been the breakthrough victories in 2012?  Thanks to the hard work of advocates, parents, elected officials, and many more, there are 29 private school choice programs across the nation.  And already in 2012, two new programs were created in Louisiana and Virginia and four programs were expanded in Arizona (which expanded two of its programs), Florida, and Louisiana.

Arizona

Expanded Program: Governor Jan Brewer yesterday signed legislation expanding the Education Savings Account Program.  Created in 2011, the ESA program allowed students with disabilities to use 90 percent of the state funding, taking into account grade and disability to use on a variety of educational tools including tuition, fees, testing, tutoring, and educational therapies.  With the newly enacted expansion, students attending a school or school district rated “D” of “F,” children of U.S. Military personnel, and children in foster care now qualify for the program.  ESAs are considered to be the new frontier of school choice as the program allows parents to decide how to use their child’s education dollars.

Expanded Program: In February, the Grand Canyon State also expanded the nation’s first scholarship tax credit program by doubling the amount that donors can contribute to Scholarship Tuition Organizations.  Under the expanded program, individuals can donate up to $1,000 and married couples can donate up to $2,000.  In 2011, the program was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Louisiana

Expanded Program: Last month, Governor Bobby Jindal signed the sweeping statewide expansion of the Students Scholarships for Educational Excellence into law.  The expanded program will allow students from low-income families attending persistently failing schools to attend the public or private school of their parents’ choice.  Passed with bipartisan support, House Bill 976 gives priority to students attending schools rated “D” or “F.”  It is estimated that as many as 380,000 children in Louisiana will be eligible to participate.  Originally created in 2008 for students in Orleans Parish, the program currently serves nearly 2,000 children.

An Old Dominion-Style Rally

We told you yesterday about Democratic Delegate Algie T. Howell, who supports bringing strong school choice programs to Virginia.  And still, the news coming out of the Old Dominion State isn’t done:

More than 400 parents, students, and advocates rallied on Tuesday at the State Capitol in Richmond in support of creating school choice for students in low-income families.  Here are some photos from the event:

Governor Bob McDonnell speaks during Tuesday’s rally
calling 2012 the year that Virginia will create a scholarship tax credit program.
Our own Kevin P. Chavous stands in the background. 

Howell Heads Up Strong Support for School Choice in Virginia

Virginia Delegate Algie Howell has been serving in the House of Delegates since 2004, but he’s been a supporter of educational options for Virginia’s families for much, much longer. And it's because Howell has been able to overcome educational inequalities in his own life that he wants to make sure that students from low-income families get a choice in their own educational environment. Says the Democratic member:

It's about "parental choice," empowering parents to make the best decisions for their children. Every parent wants the best for their child, especially when it comes to education. [School choice] helps parents do exactly that.

Representing parts of Chesapeake, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach, Howell is a former public school teacher and school board member, and a cosponsor of House Bill 321, which would create a corporate scholarship tax credit for students from low-income families to attend the school of their parents’ choice.

Why does Howell support the idea of being able to choose your own school?  Because when he was in high school, he couldn’t:

I wanted desperately to go to Holland High School. I was smart enough, I was ready and I knew it would provide the best opportunity for the kind of life I dreamed about.

But back then, like every other black child I knew, I was assigned by the school system to local "colored" schools, and high school was no different. I am a proud graduate of Nansemond County Training School, but sometimes I wonder what might have been had I been allowed to attend the better-equipped "white school."

Now, in his work as an elected official, Howell is committed to making sure that all children have access to a great education. 

In Virginia, Massie Seeks Critical Mass on School Choice

Virginia Del. Jimmie Massie is among those hoping to bring
comprehensive education reform to the Commonwealth in 2012.

Virginia Delegate Jimmie Massie, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2007, is leading the way to bring real educational options to the Old Dominion State.

In fact, Massie has already led Virginia part of the way to comprehensive reform, by sponsoring a bill last session that would allow low-income students to receive scholarships to attend the school of their parent’s choice. And while House Bill 2314 passed the House 54-45 last year, it failed in the Senate.

But Massie, Governor Bob McDonnell, school choice supporters, and families across Virginia are not giving up.

That’s because Massie is expected to introduce similar legislation this year in order to bring real education options to the Dominion State.

“Too often students aren’t able to reach their full potential because the school they attend is not the best fit and their families can’t afford to send them to a nonpublic school,” Massie said in January 2011.  “By providing this tax incentive […] we will be able to provide school options for students and their parents, in order for them to get the education they deserve, at no cost to the state. This legislation will go far to expand the educational opportunities available to students in Virginia.”

One-Fifth of America's Chief Executives Convene for NBC Education Summit

There were many opinions under one tent (literally) at this week's Education Nation Summit, the second annual event hosted in New York City on Monday and Tuesday by the folks at NBC. It sometimes made for a few odd exchanges—like, for example, when reform-minded Michelle Rhee shared the stage with AFT President Randi Weingarten. Reason TV captured a portion of that conversation, as well as a few other highlights from the summit, in the video below: