The role of school choice in mitigating racial tensions remains a subject of debate. Recently, a student was turned away from his Florida private school on the first day of class because of his dreadlocks. The student received a scholarship to attend the school via the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program. Citing this incident, HuffPost suggests that another Florida choice program-the Hope Scholarship-fails to help victimized children given the "racist undertones" of their school policies, which include strict hair policies.

 

Effect of Regulations on the Quality of Private Schools Participating in Choice Programs

Corey DeAngelis (Cato Institute) published a new study  which analyzes school participation in voucher programs and the impact of regulation on the quality of schools that choose to participate. The findings suggest that higher-quality private schools are less likely to participate in strictly regulated voucher programs, citing evidence from Milwaukee and Ohio. Since lower-quality schools may be more motivated for financial support, DeAngelis writes that "policymakers should realize that their well-intentioned regulations of voucher programs likely do more harm than good." ( RedefinED )

 

Fiscal Effects of School Vouchers: Examining the Savings and Costs of America's Private School Voucher Programs

In a  report released this week, Marty Lueken (EdChoice) finds that from program inception through fiscal year 2015, school vouchers have collectively saved state and local taxpayers $3.2 billion. The report includes individual profiles on 16 programs.

 

Analysis of ESA Spending in Tennessee

Drew Catt (EdChoice) compares how parents in Tennessee are using their ESA funds compared to parents with ESAs in Florida and Arizona. Noting the difference in eligibility requirements across each program, Catt found the greatest difference in spending was in the category of private school tuition. Notably, participating Tennessee families are allocating roughly one-sixth of their funds to ABLE accounts-a financial vehicle that allows residents with disabilities to put money aside for future qualified expenses.

 

GAO Report on Tax-Credit Scholarship Programs

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on tax-credit scholarship programs and their requirements for participating students and donors. The report summarizes key characteristics of the programs including student eligibility, scholarship awards, and notes that in the 2016-17 school year, the programs awarded more than $856 million in scholarships. The report also describes how donating to a program could affect the state and federal taxes owed by donors. Starting at page 16, there are detailed analyses of how the programs interact with state and federal taxes ( Education Week).

 

Vouchers for Afterschool Care

In The Hechinger Report, Andre Perry (The Brookings Institution) argues in favor of vouchers for after-school programs, rather than vouchers for students to attend private schools. "School hours - typically between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. - simply don't match a 9 to 5 workday... What are parents to do with their kids in those in-between hours?"

 

Donors Choose: Should private school teachers be included?

Erika Sanzi (Fordham) questions why the organization DonorsChoose.org, which allows teachers to request classroom supplies, is only available to public school teachers. Sanzi spoke with the organization's founder and hopes they will reconsider excluding non-public schools.

 

Closing the Skills Gap with Tax Incentives

In Investor's Business Daily, Peter Murphy (Invest in Education Coalition) discusses 6.7 million unfilled jobs. Businesses are hiring, but they are struggling to find skilled workers to fill the open positions. Murphy says tax incentives are needed to close the skills gap, and the USA Workforce Tax Credit Act is one possible solution.