Policy & Law
Stay well-informed about the ever-changing landscape of policies and laws that impact choices for students, parents, and educators.
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 than the original. Author Jay Wolf notes a spiritual lesson: The story of kintsugi — this style of pottery —... READ MORESocial 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...
READ MORECommentary: 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...
READ MORETake 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...
READ MORETribal 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...
READ MORELegendary 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,...
READ MOREThe 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An education reform era policy ended recently as New York lawmakers repealed a law that attempted to remove ineffective instructors from public school classrooms.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...
READ MORE70 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...
READ MOREU.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.
READ MOREFlorida 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...
READ MOREGovernor Abbott deals a setback to the Texas district industrial lobbying complex
During the 2013 Texas legislative session, I made my way to Houston to visit one of the grand old men of Texas K-12 reform, the late/great Charles Miller. Miller...
READ MORE