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Kentucky House passes a bill aimed at putting a school choice constitutional amendment on the ballot
Undermining Public Education Bruce Schreiner Undermining Public Education Bruce Schreiner

Kentucky House passes a bill aimed at putting a school choice constitutional amendment on the ballot

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Supporters of letting Kentucky voters decide the outcome of a school choice constitutional amendment cleared a key hurdle Wednesday when the state House gave its support, after a tense debate that could foreshadow a bruising campaign ahead if the proposal reaches the ballot.

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Pennsylvania Taxpayers Are Funding Discriminatory Religious Schools
Discrimination Catherine Caruso Discrimination Catherine Caruso

Pennsylvania Taxpayers Are Funding Discriminatory Religious Schools

In Pennsylvania, as anywhere else in America, private schools can do pretty much whatever they want. They can refuse to accept disabled or LGBTQ applicants. They can expel students for getting pregnant and even for merely having LGBTQ friends outside of school. At the same time, they can require applicants’ families to attend church, not to mention teach students that God created the universe in six days.

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School Vouchers Have A Transparency Problem
Accountability Peter Greene Accountability Peter Greene

School Vouchers Have A Transparency Problem

Pennsylvania has had a pair of tax credit scholarship school voucher programs (Educational Improvement Tax Credits (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credits (OSTC)) for over twenty years, leaving a $2 billion hole in state revenues. One might think that taxpayers, or those accountable to taxpayers, would want to know how exactly that $2 billion has been used.

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NJ A4144/S3035 is a Private School Voucher Bill and it is Extremely Dangerous
Draining Funds From Public Education Public Funds Public Schools and Education Law Center Draining Funds From Public Education Public Funds Public Schools and Education Law Center

NJ A4144/S3035 is a Private School Voucher Bill and it is Extremely Dangerous

Make no mistake – this bill would create New Jersey’s first and only PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHER program. Do not be fooled by code words like “scholarships” and “student support organization” and “tax credits.” As one court put it when striking down a similar tax credit voucher law, the program’s unconstitutionality could not be “evaded through the mechanism of funding this program from a tax credit rather than by a direct appropriation of tax dollars.”

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CHOOSE Act passes legislature, awaits Ivey’s signature today
Discrimination Patrick Darrington Discrimination Patrick Darrington

CHOOSE Act passes legislature, awaits Ivey’s signature today

The Republican supermajority gave final passage in the Senate to Alabama’s school choice legislation as it now awaits signature from Gov. Kay Ivey.The bill, the CHOOSE Act, was passed 23-9 after apparent pressure from the governor’s office because Ivey has stated school choice is a top priority. The bill would create an education savings account, ESA, for $7,000 to help parents pay for the cost to send their children to private schools primarily.

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Arizona’s ‘universal’ education savings account program has become a handout to the wealthy
Studies Reports and Data Jamie Klinenberg, Jon Valant, and Nicolas Zerbino Studies Reports and Data Jamie Klinenberg, Jon Valant, and Nicolas Zerbino

Arizona’s ‘universal’ education savings account program has become a handout to the wealthy

Amid a wave of legislation that created or expanded private-school choice programs across the country, Robert Enlow, the President/CEO of EdChoice, dubbed 2023 as “the year of universal choice.” Enlow wasn’t wrong. Universal eligibility is the defining trend in recent private school choice reforms. For decades, private-school choice programs (like vouchers) provided funds only to certain families—e.g., families with low household income or a child with a disability. Recently, however, Republican lawmakers have created or expanded private-school choice programs to allow nearly all students, regardless of their individual need, access to public funding to attend private schools.

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Vouchers undermine efforts to provide an excellent public education for all
Accountability Hilary Wething and Josh Bivens Accountability Hilary Wething and Josh Bivens

Vouchers undermine efforts to provide an excellent public education for all

Since the early 2000s, many states have introduced significant voucher programs to provide public financing for private school education. These voucher programs are deeply damaging to efforts to offer an excellent public education for all U.S. children—and this is in fact often the intention of those pushing these programs.

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Welcome to the GOP's new education agenda: Loot our public schools for private vouchers
Draining Funds From Public Education Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov. Andy Beshear Draining Funds From Public Education Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov. Andy Beshear

Welcome to the GOP's new education agenda: Loot our public schools for private vouchers

In North Carolina and Kentucky, public schools are the center of our communities. We’re proud public school graduates ourselves – and we know the critical role our schools play in teaching our students, strengthening our workforces and growing our economies.

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Parents like private school vouchers so much that demand is exceeding budgets in some states
Draining Funds From Public Education Geoff Mulvihill Draining Funds From Public Education Geoff Mulvihill

Parents like private school vouchers so much that demand is exceeding budgets in some states

In some states, higher-income families can now use taxpayer money to cover private school tuition -- and more people than projected are taking the offer, which might force scrambles to shore up state budgets. It’s especially an issue in states like Arizona and Iowa, where at least some families whose children were already in private school can now take advantage of public funding.

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Tax Avoidance Continues to Fuel School Privatization Efforts

Tax Avoidance Continues to Fuel School Privatization Efforts

One of the most disturbing recent shifts in U.S. public policy has been the renewed push to privatize the nation’s K-12 education system.[1] Originally born out of a desire to preserve school segregation and racial inequality more broadly, the so-called “school choice” movement is enjoying a resurgence as many state lawmakers look for ways to move more kids into private and religious schools.[2] That end is being hastened through the tax code in major ways. In short, school privatization proponents have managed to set up state policies that harness deficiencies in federal tax law and the self-interest of wealthy families to gin up enthusiasm for privatizing the U.S. public education system.

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