School Choice Has Expanded in the U.S.

  • Since 2021, 12 states have enacted universal or near-universal school choice programs.
  • While less than 1% of the more than 52 million K-12 public school students in the U.S. had access to a school choice program in 2020, private school choice programs, with funding, are now available to approximately 18.9 million students.
  • Despite claims by the opposition, private school choice programs have resulted in notable savings for states such as Arizona, which had a $2 billion surplus in the state budget the year it adopted an education savings account program.

Education Freedom is Necessary

  • Though the U.S. public education system spends nearly $19,000 on each student, 77% of students graduate without proficiency, as averaged across academic subjects. 
  • On a global scale, 15-year-old students in the U.S. placed 9th in reading, 16th in science, and 34th in math. 
  • Teachers unions leverage their political power to maintain the public school monopoly, working to prevent the advancement of school choice. In exchange for campaign funding, teachers unions are rewarded political power.  

Best Ways to Enact School Choice

  • Private school choice programs come in a variety of forms, including private school scholarships, education savings accounts, and tax-credit scholarships. 
  • Education savings accounts are the gold standard of school choice programs and can be allocated toward curriculum, testing, tutoring, online courses, educational technology, homeschool programs, and therapies for students with special needs.
  • Tax-credit scholarships promote school choice by allowing businesses and individuals to receive a tax credit when donating to a nonprofit that helps fund these school-choice programs.”
  • Within the public school setting, school choice avenues include intra-district (within the district) open enrollment, inter-district (outside the district) open enrollment, magnet schools, and charter schools.

Click HERE to read the policy focus and learn more about school choice in the states.