K-12 enrollment is on the decline between a combination of dropping birth rates and more school choice options, putting schools in a tight bind. The public school system is expected to see a drop of millions of students over the next five years, a hit that will affect schools financially and potentially lead to the closure of more districts. Ways to combat this phenomenon are limited, as experts say schools will have to look at scaling down operations or competing with other educational institutions. From fall 2019 to fall 2023, a 2.5 percent drop in enrollment occurred, taking more than a million kids out of the K-12 system. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) projects … [Read more...]
The OBBB Act is one of the most significant shifts in education in decades
Are you interested in k-12 school funding following the student? Are you interested in allowing parents to choose where there child/ren go to school? The following article was published at The Washington Examiner and does a good job outlining the coming changes to school choice. Hardly anyone is talking about it, but Congress has just passed one of the most consequential education reforms in history. Tucked into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a provision that could transform how families access education, reshape the politics of schooling, and finally give parents the power to direct their children’s learning. The legislation establishes a first-of-its-kind federal tax credit … [Read more...]
Wyoming Becomes 15th State To Enact Universal School Choice
Published in the Federalist The act grants families an education savings account of $7,000 per student per year to allocate toward approved K-12 educational expenses. On Tuesday, Wyoming became the 15th state to enact universal school choice into law with Gov. Mark Gordon’s signature on the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act. The Cowboy State joins a rapidly growing group of states that have passed laws giving all (or nearly all) families statewide choice concerning their children’s kindergarten through twelfth-grade education. Those states are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and West … [Read more...]
Who’s Afraid of School Choice—and Food Trucks—in Wyoming?
Today's article comes to us from The Daily Signal Teacher unions are racing to stop greater education choice from spreading to Wyoming. But parents there already know that more education options would be valuable for them, and special interest groups’ latest dirty political tactics only make them look desperate. “It’s either, you support families or you don’t,” says Mary Schmidt, a Wyoming parent in Natrona County, 40 minutes outside of Casper. “We want kids educated, and we have to acknowledge that education comes in different forms,” she said in an interview. Schmidt is a parent who homeschools her children and a member of the local Moms for Liberty chapter, but she also … [Read more...]
School Choice – Trump’s Vision
With the change in the White House there is an effort to bring "choice" to K-12 education. The Trump administration is moving forward with efforts to expand parental choice of K-12 education. In today's article published at USA Today. Trump trusts parents to know what's best for their kids. What a concept! | Opinion Former President Joe Biden spent the past four years doing the bidding of the teachers' unions, and the country’s kids have suffered as a result. So it is refreshing to see President Donald Trump prioritize what’s best for families when it comes to their children’s education. Case in point: Trump last week issued an executive order that directed the federal … [Read more...]
This National School Choice Week, It’s a Boom Time for Education Freedom
This article was published in REASON and The Rattler Jan 29th 2025 This week is National School Choice Week, and there's a lot to celebrate. Innovation in education was accelerated by pandemic-era school closures, as was interest in alternatives to one-size-fits-some schooling. With education funding following the student rather than being assigned to government-run institutions in a growing number of states, more families are choosing what works best for their kids—and the majority are satisfied with their decisions. Proliferating School Choice Programs "By the end of 2024, more than one million students in America were participating in a private school choice program," … [Read more...]
Teachers Unions Are More Powerful Than You Realize—but That May Be Changing
This article appeared on Foundation for Economic Education on August 31, 2020. 4 years later the premise is still true...but....are teachers unions losing any control? Teachers unions throughout the US claim to be looking out for the best interests of teachers and students, but they are deeply political organizations with significant influence over what, how, where, and with whom most children learn. While the nation’s largest teachers unions have long been deeply connected to the Democratic Party and left-wing ideology, this political affiliation has become increasingly apparent in recent months. From hinging their support for reopening schools on outrageous policy demands to … [Read more...]
Will School Choice Win Out In Tennessee? Lawmakers Have Two Weeks To Finalize ‘Education Freedom’ Act
As we've pointed out there are a number of "school choice" programs across the US and more coming. There will be a citizen referendum in Washington State coming soon so this article is timely. The original can be read at: The Daily Wire Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Lee is determined to make his state the latest to overhaul its education system to embrace school choice, but with a deadline to get it done just a few weeks away, several hurdles remain. With two weeks remaining before the legislative session of the Tennessee General Assembly comes to a close, lawmakers in the state House and Senate have put forward two very different versions of Lee’s proposed school choice … [Read more...]
Those opposing education reform are on wrong side of history
Today's article comes from Chris Cargill in a story published at The Mountain States Policy Center. Give it a read and then ask yourself where you stand about the need to change K-12 education in Washington State. I was recently invited to speak at the City Club in Boise on education policy and the ideas being discussed in the current Idaho legislative session. Realizing the education establishment would be well represented in the crowd, I knew I was heading into a somewhat hostile setting. But Mountain States Policy Center believes in going anywhere at any time to provide a free market perspective. We’re happy to have civil conversations and debate the merit of ideas. We may disagree, … [Read more...]
Education choice receives majority support in BSU Idaho Public Policy Survey
For those of you watching the national movement to school choice (money follows the child so parents have a choice where K-12 education occurs) you may want to review this article from the Mountain States Policy Org. The information is for our next door neighbor...Idaho. A new poll by Boise State University shows public support for increasing education choice options in Idaho. These results are similar to a 2022 poll conducted by MSPC. Here is the question BSU asked: The wording of this question is interesting. The current refundable tax credit proposal under consideration in Idaho does not remove funding from the K-12 budget. Idaho State Representative Wendy … [Read more...]