School choice
The typical practice at that time was to assign children to the public school nearest their home.
[2] Virginia's 1956 Stanley Plan used vouchers to finance white-only private schools known as segregation academies.
As a result, states are free to enact voucher programs that provide funding for any school of the parent's choosing.
Governor Chris Christie worked with mayor Cory Booker to expand charter schools there.
The Democratic-led Congress attempted to phase out the DC program, despite a waiting list of 9,000 low income children.
[5] In 2011 Wisconsin opened the Milwaukee program to all city students and introduced a similar plan in Racine.
Ohio doubled the state’s scholarship program and increased scholarship/tutoring funding for low-income students in Cleveland.
The program started in 1998, reaching over 77,500 taxpayers, providing over $500 million in scholarship money for children at private schools across the state.
[19] The Arizona program survived a court challenge, ostensibly because tuition grants could go to religious schools.
[20] Greater Opportunities for Access to Learning is the Georgia program that offers a state income tax credit to donors of scholarships to private schools.
[5] Also in Florida directed ~$200 million to increased low-income scholarships, while raising the income cap to $100,000, to reach an estimated 60,000 more students.
[30][31] Scholarship tax credit programs grant individuals and businesses a full or partial credit toward their taxes for donations made to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs; also called school tuition organizations).
These programs currently exist in fourteen states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
These exemptions grant charter schools some autonomy and flexibility with decision-making, such as teacher contracts, hiring, and curriculum.
[36] Some states allow parents to claim a tax credit or deduction to help fund certain educational expenses.
[37] Some other jurisdictions reduce the income tax for parents, so educational expenses can be more economical, which include private school tuition, supplies, computers, books, tutors, and transportation.
[41] Supporters say this would level the playing field by broadening opportunities for low-income students—particularly minorities—to attend high-quality schools that would otherwise be accessible only to higher-income families.
Competition encourages schools to create innovative programs, become more responsive to parental demands, and increase student achievement.
[45] Studies undertaken by the Cato Institute and other American libertarian and conservative think tanks claim that privately run education costs less and produces superior outcomes.
To advance freedom of education, OIDEL promotes a greater parity between public and private schooling systems.
For example, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin asserted that he won his 2021 race by emphasizing that parents have the right to make decisions about their children’s education[53] and supported school choice.
[57] Charters have been accused of creating units that charge them high rent,[57][58] and that while the facilities are used as schools, they pay no property taxes.
Schools are not allowed to select students via admissions tests, performance, religious background, or gender.
The Flemish education system allows choice between teaching styles and competition, while suffering from relatively high socio-economic segregation.
[64] In Chile, researchers reported that when controlling for student background (parental income and education), the difference in performance between public and private sectors is not significant.
