The number of states that have added an option to allow some or all of the funds for K-12 education in public schools to follow the children appears to be causing issues with....teachers unions. In the following article from The Washington Examiner they spell out some of the efforts and tactics teachers unions are going to try and stop "choice" Voters in Nebraska are likely to weigh in on the state's school choice program after a group submitted more than 100,000 signatures last week, seeking to force a ballot referendum. The effort seeks to repeal a state law passed this year that established a $25 million tax credit program for donors who give money to a scholarship fund that … [Read more...]
Public vs. Private K-12 education cost review July 2023
As parents finish a school year and vaguely think about the Fall we thought it might be helpful to pull some information together about cost of public vs private schools. What follows is the most current data varying from 2021 up through 2023. For the 2023 school year, there are 39 private schools serving 5,466 students in Clark County, WA (there are 145 public schools, serving 75,243 public students). 7% of all K-12 students in Clark County, WA are educated in private schools (compared to the WA state average of 9%). As we closed out the 2022/23 school year the private school tuition costs were about $9,585. Public school cost numbers may vary depending on the source. The State of … [Read more...]
School Choice Voucher Program – Update
So which states have taken action on school vouchers? Here's what our searches have produced: https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/interactive-guide-to-school-choice.aspx Welcome to NCSL’s Interactive Guide to School Choice. School choice comes in many different forms and all 50 states plus the District of Columbia provide parents the ability to send their child to a school outside their neighborhood in some way. Charter schools, magnet schools, open enrollment programs and state turnaround districts all provide public school options to parents. School vouchers, education savings accounts and scholarship tax credit programs expand those choices to include private schools. Clicking … [Read more...]
School Vouchers – 2021 – Washington State
Representative Vicki Kraft, 17th LD, is going to reintroduce her school voucher legislation in the 2021 session. Following are some news reports of what she will propose: From February 2020 here is an article at CCT: https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/rep-vicki-kraft-introduces-bill-to-offer-parental-choice-of-where-their-children-attend-school/ December 7, 2020: https://vickikraft.houserepublicans.wa.gov/2020/12/07/kraft-school-choice-opinion-editorial/ December 8, 2020 this article in The Reflector: http://www.thereflector.com/opinion/article_db09bc56-39b9-11eb-9d24-03c99016ddc4.html Here is a link to two articles we've shared on vouchers: … [Read more...]
Homeschooling during the Covid 19 shutdown – Part 2
In Part 2 we want to explore whether parents are really thinking about leaving the public school system and if so what are their choices? In an article we published on April 21st, 2020, we explored various tools and websites that are available to help: https://swweducation.org?p=6453 Today we expand on the list and explore what parents are reported to be thinking... In a story published at WND.com on may 22, 2020: https://www.wnd.com/2020/05/homeschooling-vast-unplanned-experiment/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=wnd-newsletter&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=newsletter they said: Not everyone is viewing school closures as a disaster. For decades, schools have become … [Read more...]
Study: Vouchers Improve Public School Performance
In our continuing exploration of public vs. non-public school choices we bring you an article published at The National Bureau of Economic Research written by: David N. Figlio, Cassandra M.D. Hart, Krzysztof Karbownik To access the full study you need to pay a $5 fee. A summary of the article was published on Breitbart. A summary from the study is here: NBER Working Paper No. 26758 Issued in February 2020 NBER Program(s):Program on Children, Economics of Education Program Using a rich dataset that merges student-level school records with birth records, and a student fixed effect design, we explore how the massive scale-up of a Florida private school choice program affected public … [Read more...]