The Heartland Institute

In 2004, Florida corporations significantly increased their participation in Step Up for Students, the state’s two-year-old program intended to provide children in low-income families with tax-credit-funded scholarships for attending the private or public K-12 school of their choice. By early December, year-to-date donations were running ...

While taxpayers in Florida’s Miami-Dade School District aren’t getting the new schools they want and need, taxpayers in Jersey County, Illinois, are getting new schools they don’t want and don’t need, despite rejecting --by a 71-29 percent vote--a 1999 school district referendum to build two new schools. School enrollment in ...

Just because Manhattan Institute researcher Jay Greene agrees with Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on the value of school choice doesn't mean Greene endorses everything Bush says. Greene recently questioned Bush's statement that high school graduation rates in the Sunshine State had increased for the fifth consecutive year, rising to 71 ...

For nearly 30 years, U.S. consumer goods corporations have had online access to interactive sales and marketing databases for ad hoc data analysis and decision support. Until recently, similar input/output data for driving decisions in K-12 education have been out-of-date or out-of-reach to parents, educators, and policymakers. The ...

Despite the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court's Zelman decision, which approved the inclusion of religious schools in school choice programs, Maine Superior Court Justice Robert E. Crowley on September 30 upheld a 1981 state law excluding religious schools from the state's nearly 100-year-old school choice "tuitioning" program. The challenge ...

A 10-year attempt by education finance lawyers to reduce per-pupil spending disparities in Texas schools by means of a so-called "Robin Hood" scheme has produced a smaller spending gap but also resulted in the destruction of an estimated $81 billion worth of property wealth, according to a recent study led by Harvard University ...

The Massachusetts Constitution not only contains an 1800s-era Blaine Amendment--an "Anti-Aid Amendment" barring any portion of the common school fund from going to "sectarian" schools--it also contains a 1917 "Religious Exclusion" amendment that bars the use of initiative and referendum procedures to amend the Anti-Aid Amendment ...

Until St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and four members of the city's board of education voted to hire the consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal in the spring of 2003, William V. Roberti, a managing director of the firm, had been involved in corporate and military restructuring situations but had never run a school district. From ...

According to a recent survey from the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation, California's charter schools are reducing the number of students labeled as "special education" by using aggressive early intervention strategies such as "neverstreaming" to keep students performing at grade level. In addition, the charter schools are providing ...

Tim Sheehy, president of the Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce, believes school choice provides his Wisconsin city with a competitive advantage over other Midwest cities. That's why, on a recent visit to St. Paul, ostensibly to promote school choice, he joked he'd just as soon the Twin Cities did not adopt a voucher ...

When the First District Court of Appeal struck down Florida's Opportunity Scholarship program in August, the decision was made by just two judges on a three-judge panel of the court. Now, at the request of the State of Florida, all 15 judges on the full court have agreed to reconsider the panel's ruling. The scholarship ...

Many of Florida's citizens use public funds to purchase child care, health care, and higher education services from a range of providers that include religious institutions. Nevertheless, a new program designed to add K-12 education to that list of services was struck down by the First District Court of Appeals in August because ...

When Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in June announced his Renaissance 2010 school reform plan to close 100 underperforming public schools and reopen a majority of them as charter and contract schools over the next six years, the Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago responded enthusiastically and pledged to support ...

Starting in the fall of 2005, state subsidies for Colorado's public colleges and universities--totaling almost $600 million a year--will be distributed directly to students in the form of vouchers worth up to $2,400 a year. Previously, the funds were distributed as block grants to the state's higher education institutions, which ...

Colorado * Connecticut * Illinois * Louisiana * Michigan Minnesota * New Jersey * Vermont COLORADO “Educate Me. I Want to Be Free” While voucher opponents argued against Colorado’s fledgling school choice program inside the Denver City and County Building on November 12, Dan Haley of the Denver Post ’s editorial ...

California * Colorado * Florida Georgia * Minnesota CALIFORNIA Teacher Union Gives Dean Early Endorsement With eight other Democratic candidates still in the race and the Presidential election still more than a year away, the California Teachers Association (CTA) on October 28 took what CTA president Barbara E. Kerr ...

Arizona * Colorado * District of Columbia * Florida Montana * New Jersey * Utah * Wisconsin ARIZONA U.S. Supreme Court to Review Tax Credit Case In an unexpected move, the U.S. Supreme Court has granted review in the Arizona tax credit case. A decision is expected by June 2004. Opponents of Arizona’s 1997 ...

Asking the questions is easy: How is school choice progressing? Overall? By state? Within a state? By type of program? Where do we have vouchers? Individual tax credits? Corporate tax credits? Charter schools? Who’s involved in my state? How do I contact them? Providing accurate answers to those questions, however, is ...

U.S. Under Secretary of Education Gene Hickok recently met with charter school advocates, faith-based and community leaders, and parents in the Detroit area to focus on efforts to improve K-12 education in Michigan. During the two-day visit, he explained how the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act contributes to those efforts ...

Arizona * California * Colorado * Connecticut * District of Columbia * Florida Louisiana * Missouri * New Hampshire * Ohio * Utah * Wisconsin ARIZONA Senate Passes New Tax Credit Plan By a 16-13 vote on March 24, the Arizona Senate approved a tax credit plan that would permit corporations to redirect their tax ...