Policy & Law
Stay well-informed about the ever-changing landscape of policies and laws that impact choices for students, parents, and educators.
Commentary: Educational Choice for Children Act should be GOP’s top priority
By Shaka Mitchell After this month’s election, which has resulted in a surprising Republican trifecta, the first action GOP lawmakers should take is to pass and sign the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). This bill aims to provide educational opportunities outside the public school system for millions of students... READ MORERising parent demand stretches Florida’s Personalized Education Program to its limit for 2024-25
Florida’s scholarship program for K-12 students who don’t attend school full-time has turned on the “no vacancy” sign. The Personalized Education Program operates as an education savings account that allocates...
READ MOREDespite setbacks at the ballot box, young education choice alum vows to continue the fight for parent-directed education
Jayleesha Cooper sat in her apartment at the University of Chicago and watched with hope as the election results rolled in. The college senior from Omaha had marked her mail-in...
READ MOREElection 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...
READ MOREReforming 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...
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...
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