The Commonwealth of Massachusetts allows the school committees of public school districts to have open enrollment policies. Towns in Massachusetts represented by the "School Choice Receiving District Status" (open enrollment status) of their public high school district for the 2016–2017 academic year. Towns represented in blue have school districts with an open enrollment policy for kindergarten through high school. Towns represented in purple have school districts with open enrollment only for specific grades. Towns represented in red have school districts with a closed enrollment policy.
School choice in the United States allows students and families to select alternatives to public schools. It is the subject of fierce debate in various state legislatures across the United States.
The most common type of school choice in the United States, measured both by the number of programs and by the number of participating students, are scholarship tax credit programs. These allow individuals or corporations to receive tax credits toward their state taxes in exchange for donations made to non-profit organizations that grant private school scholarships.[2] A similar subsidy may be provided by a state through a school voucher program.
In a 1955 essay, "The Role of Government in Education", economist Milton Friedman proposed using free market principles in assigning students to schools, which he believed would improve the United States public school system. The typical practice at that time was to assign children to the public school nearest their home. Friedman proposed that parents should be able to receive education funds in the form of school vouchers, which would allow them to choose their children's schools from among public, private, and religious and non-religious options.[3]
In 1995, Friedman slammed the public school system for its “dismal results: some relatively good government schools in high-income suburbs and communities; very poor government schools in our inner cities.”[6] In 1996, Friedman and his wife, Rose Friedman, founded the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice (later EdChoice).[7][8][9]
In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris in 2002, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that school vouchers could be used to pay for education in sectarian schools without violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. As a result, states are free to enact voucher programs that provide funding for any school of the parent's choosing so long as the programs are religiously neutral—neither favoring nor disfavoring religious schools.[10]
In 2004, Congress enacted the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provided scholarships to 2000 low-income students. In 2008, students came from families with an average income of $22,736, approximately 107 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of four.[11]
School choice had become a partisan issue by 2009. Democratic support waned, while Republican support continued to broaden. The Democratic-led Congress attempted to phase out the DC program, despite a waiting list of 9,000 low income children.[11] The Obama administration provided funding incentives to states and school districts to increase the number of charter schools.[12] In 2011 Republicans became the majority and renewed the program.[6] In the 2009 and 2010 elections, school-choice-supporting Republicans gained seven governors’ seats. 12 states expanded school choice in 2011. Newly Republican states enacted half of that year's school-choice legislation.[6]
A poll found that 60 percent of American voters felt that tax credits support parents whereas 26 percent felt that tax credits support religion.[13]
About 1.8 million children were homeschooled in 2012.[14]
In 2015, 14 cities had 30% or more of their students in charter schools, led by New Orleans, with 93%.[15][16]
In the 2020 Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not restrict religious schools from participating in voucher programs simply because the school was run by a religious organization. The Court further ruled in Carson v. Makin that states could not bar parents from participating in a school choice program because they sent their children to a school that provides religious instruction. To do so would violate the Free Exercise Clause.[17][18]
By 2021, school choice students numbered 621,000, up from 200,000 in 2011. The next expansion was driven by pandemic-related dissatisfaction with public school policies and curricula. While many European school systems reopened in spring 2020, American public schools generally remained closed until the fall of 2021. For the 2020–2021 school year, public school enrollment fell by 3 percent. Private and charter schools grew an estimated 7 percent. 18 states either initiated school-choice programs or expanded offerings, making 3.6 million American students eligible for school choice and/or homeschool support programs. Several states expanded eligibility to include middle-class children.[6]
As of May 2022, 72% of U.S. parents favored vouchers, 76% supported education savings accounts, and 71% favored charter schools in the United States.[19][20]
Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina all have passed new or expanded voucher-style programs since 2023.[21]
By state
Alabama
In 2022, Alabama increased scholarship funding by 50%, to $30B.
Arizona
The Arizona Individual Private School Tuition Tax Credit Program[22][23] in 2014 offered $1,053 (individuals), and couples ($2,106).[24] Nearly 24,000 children received scholarships in the 2011–2012 school year. 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.[25] The Arizona program survived a court challenge, in part, because the program permitted students to use the scholarship money on a range of educational expenses, not just private schools. This distinguished the program from an earlier voucher program that the Arizona Supreme Court had held was unconstitutional because students could only use the voucher at private schools.[26]
California created its District of Choice program in 1993. It allows California public school district to enroll students residing outside district lines.[27]As of 2016[update], 47 California school districts and 10,000 students participated in District of Choice, serving five percent of school districts and 0.2 percent of students.[28]
In 2011, Florida grew special-ed vouchers, simplified the rules that allowed students to transfer out of failing schools, and increased the cap on charter schools. In the 2020s, 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.
In 2014, a lawsuit sought to challenge the legality of the Florida voucher program, but was dismissed.[29]
Indiana removed the limit on charter schools, allowed universities to authorize charters, and established vouchers for low- and middle-income students.
Iowa
In Iowa, the Educational Opportunities Act was enacted in 2006, creating tax credits for eligible donors to scholarship-granting organizations (SGO)s. These tax caps were $5 million originally, but in 2007 increased to $7.5 million.[34]
Louisiana
Louisiana added scholarships for special-needs students.[6]
New Hampshire
In June 2021, New Hampshire established education savings accounts with an income cap of $79,500. By November, New Hampshire 1,600 students had applied.
New Jersey
In 2007, Newark launched alternatives to poorly performing local schools. Governor Chris Christie worked with mayor Cory Booker to expand charter schools there.
Ohio
Ohio doubled the state’s scholarship program and increased scholarship/tutoring funding for low-income students in Cleveland.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma created a tax-credit scholarship program for low-income students.
In 2018–19 in West Virginia, teachers fought a charter expansion, twice launching strikes.
Wisconsin
Milwaukee mayor John Norquist (D) and Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson (R) initiated school vouchers in Milwaukee in 1990.[6] Minnesota was the first state to have a charter school law and the nation's first charter school was City Academy High School, which opened in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1992.[35]
In 2011, Wisconsin opened the Milwaukee program to all city students and introduced a similar plan in Racine. In 2013, vouchers were made available to qualifying families across Wisconsin, reaching more than 14,500 students in 2022.[6]
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