Policy & Law

Stay well-informed about the ever-changing landscape of policies and laws that impact choices for students, parents, and educators.

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Election 2024: ‘Everything sad comes untrue’

Today is election day in America. In the immortal words of C3PO “Thank the Maker!” I do not know about the rest of you, but I am well past my factory-specified structural tolerance levels for unsolicited texts and calls. I get it; all of you want me to vote for... READ MORE
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Reforming the shattered pieces of South Carolina’s ESA
The Japanese art of pottery, kintsugi, uses gold in the process of reconstituting something broken. Rather than attempting to conceal the repair, kintsugi makes something new and even more beautiful...
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Social engineering, ESAs, and the public education market
Governments engage in social engineering when they create policies and programs to influence (i.e., govern) their citizens’ behavior. All governing, including public education, is an act of social engineering. How...
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Commentary: Lawmakers should consider Oklahoma funding model after South Carolina high court’s rejection of ESAs
For David Warner, choosing a school for his son was a “very personal” decision, he said. The ability to select the place where he could learn near their home in...
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Take a great law and make it better
Oklahoma lawmakers created the most robust K-12 personal use tax credit in American history last year. It occurred to your humble author that with a couple of tweaks an Oklahoma-style...
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Tribal politics, education choice, and the Constitution
As our country was being formed, states such as Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Virginia adopted state religions that citizens were taxed to fund and expected...
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Legendary ed choice advocate Jack Coons celebrates a milestone
Editor’s note: Our friend, John E.Coons, has been a regular contributor over the years to Step Up For Students policy blogs. Shortly after the 2021 release of his latest book,...
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The revenge of the rubber room
  An education reform era policy ended recently as New York lawmakers repealed a law that attempted to remove ineffective instructors from public school classrooms. As Kathleen Moore of the...
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70 years after Brown vs. Board, the Linda Browns of today can still be denied access
Available to All has released a new study called The Broken Promise of Brown v Board of Ed A 50-State Report on Legal Discrimination in Public School Admissions. This May...
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U.S. public education became more diverse and inclusive in 1925
A century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court landed a win for educational freedom with its ruling in Pierce v. Society of Sisters.
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Florida legislation brings more growth, more options for state education choice scholarships
  More students would be able to use scholarships at hybrid schools, scholarship programs for students with disabilities would grow more quickly to meet demand, and religious virtual schools could...
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