When it comes to providing educational opportunities for families, Ģ����Ƶ ranks 14th out of 50 on measuring families’ access to school choice nationwide.����

At first glance, that doesn’t seem like such a bad position, but when you dig deeper, the picture becomes less flattering. Ģ����Ƶ is still lagging behind and we have our work cut out for us to ensure that every family has access to a great education.

Where Does Ģ����Ƶ Stand?

Ģ����Ƶ scored four out of a possible 100 on which weighs three major factors:

• Access to School Choice: Only 15% of Ģ����Ƶ’s K-12 students are eligible for school choice programs, far below what it takes to establish broad, equitable access.
  

• Flexibility in Educational Funding: While Ģ����Ƶ has made strides through its Promise Scholarship Program (an education savings account or “ESA”), current funding systems and program designs limit how well families can use educational funds to meet their unique needs.
  

• Funding Parity: Choice students in Ģ����Ƶ receive just 45% of the funding allocated to their public school peers. For example, public school students receive $13,810 per pupil, while choice students average $6,264 in funding.��

These metrics paint a clear picture of why Ģ����Ƶ’s score is so low. More significantly, it’s a reminder of the limitations facing families who are seeking to access the best education for their children.

Image Credit: EdChoice,

Ģ����Ƶ’s Neighbor to the South Earns the Top Score

To notch a perfect score of 100, states must have several policies in place. First, universal school choice is a must. That means all students, regardless of income or zip code, have access to a great education.

A second requirement is that all educational funds allocated to students must be fully usable for any educational expenses—anything from tuition to textbooks to needed therapies or tutoring.

Lastly, funding per choice student must be equal to the amount provided to public school students.��

So far, no state has achieved these standards, but Florida has come the closest with a score of 77 out of 100.�� Florida allows for all students to access school choice and receive 77% of the funding that public school students receive. Additionally, all students may use these funds flexibly.

Closing in on Florida are Arkansas (60), as well as Alabama and Arizona (each scoring 59).��

While these states are leading the way, the Friedman Index is a reminder that the majority of the country still has a long way to go on education choice and opportunity. The idea of a “school choice” revolution has sparked widespread conversation, but in reality, even higher-ranking states like Ģ����Ƶ have only begun to tap into the full potential of school choice and its benefits for families and communities.

Educational Opportunity Matters Most for Ģ����Ƶ’s Low-Income Communities

The limitations of Ģ����Ƶ’s school choice programs disproportionately affect children from low-income communities. For these families, access to the right education isn’t just a luxury—it’s a pathway to life-changing opportunities, such as improved academic performance, higher graduation rates, and better chances of long-term employment and financial stability.

Data consistently shows that providing families with education options leads to better outcomes for kids. For example, numerous studies indicate that students in choice programs are more likely to become proficient in core subjects like reading and math, areas that often determine future academic and career success.

One recent leap forward is the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship, a state-funded initiative designed to give families financial support to choose the best learning environment for their child. The program opens to families this year, providing scholarships of $6,500 a year that families can use for private school tuition, tutoring, special needs programs, homeschooling, or other customized options outside the traditional public school system.

While this program is an encouraging start, it’s not enough to rank Ģ����Ƶ among the nation’s top states for school choice. Currently, too few students have access to the program, and funding levels fall short of what’s needed to enable meaningful choice for all families.

The Friedman Index Gives Ģ����Ƶ a Roadmap, Not Just a Score

The factors that make up the Friedman Index give Ģ����Ƶ lawmakers clear steps to increasing education opportunity for all students:

• Expand Access to School Choice: Every family throughout Ģ����Ƶ should have access to educational opportunities that meet their child’s needs, regardless of income or location. This includes significantly increasing the percentage of students eligible for choice programs, particularly the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship.

• Increase Funding for Choice Students: Ģ����Ƶ must make substantial investments to bring funding for choice students closer to parity with public school funding. Providing families with adequate resources will make educational choice a real possibility—not just an option in name only.
  

• Focus on Students, Not Systems: It’s time for Ģ����Ƶ to reframe its education policies around the needs of students. Our goal shouldn’t be to improve Ģ����Ƶ’s ranking on an index, but to provide real hope and opportunity for the students who need it the most.

Image Credits: Canva, EdChoice

The post Ģ����Ƶ ranks 14th on new school choice index—but that’s not a win yet appeared first on For Opportunity.

Education is an essential building block for a healthy, flourishing life. It has the power to break the cycle of poverty that can persist across generations.

When children from impoverished backgrounds receive a quality education, they’re more likely to escape poverty themselves and provide better opportunities for future generations. 

Good education goes hand-in-hand with many other positive outcomes—like better jobs, higher personal income, valuable relationships, better physical health, and a longer life. 

We all want these good things for children in our communities. Education savings accounts are one solution that Ģ����Ƶ can use to increase opportunity and prosperity for students who need it most.

What are education savings accounts?

, also called ESAs, give parents a portion of state education funding that they can use to tailor their child’s education if traditional public school isn’t a good fit.

ESA programs expand education opportunity by giving parents greater flexibility and freedom in education choices. Whether a family prefers homeschooling, private schooling, or other alternatives, ESAs let parents access the best type of education for their child’s unique needs and interests.

Get Started With Ģ����Ƶ’s ESA Program: The Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship

Ģ����Ƶ is getting ready to launch Promise Scholarships in the fall of 2025. If you’re interested in enrolling your child, make sure you’re signed up to hear about next steps.

How do ESAs work?

To create education savings accounts programs, states must first pass a law. States then take a portion of what they would have spent on the student’s public school education and put it into a state-administered account.

Parents can use these funds for —tuition, tutoring, homeschooling curriculum, educational therapies, online programs, or even a combination of educational services. States require parents to complete an application process to switch to an ESA. 

What do families get from education savings accounts in Ģ����Ƶ?

• Flexibility: ESAs let parents customize their kid’s education.
• Financial Support: ESAs allow states to expand access to options that families may not be able to afford otherwise.��
• Empowerment: Parents can take charge of their child’s education journey with confidence.
• Diverse Options: Parents can explore various educational paths that suit their child’s needs and interests.

What is Ģ����Ƶ’s ESA program?

Created in 2024, Ģ����Ƶ’s ESA program is the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship. It provides state-funded scholarship accounts that give eligible families $6,500 per student for each school year.

The program will be available starting in the 2025-2026 school year, and it will be limited to students in the lowest-performing public schools.

Ģ����Ƶ’s Promise Scholarship Explained
Find out what the program is, how it works, and which students will be eligible. 

Who do education savings account help in Ģ����Ƶ?������

ESAs are for all kinds of students. Whether a child is struggling in school or has special learning needs, ESAs can help. Ģ����Ƶ’s ESA program, the Promise Scholarship, is specifically designed to help families who may not have the resources to access better opportunities. 

Students in Underperforming Schools

Thousands of Ģ����Ƶ kids are stuck in public schools that have received a failing grade from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. To help these kids in particular, the Promise Scholarship will be for students in the bottom 25% of Ģ����Ƶ’s public schools. With an ESA, these students can access higher-quality education options that prepare them for successful careers and fulfilling lives.  

Low-Income Students

Choosing a different school or educational path has often been a privilege for wealthier families. What about families that struggle to make ends meet? 

With an ESA, low-income families can consider schooling options that may be out of reach otherwise. The Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship makes sure these students are helped first. Available scholarships will go to families below 400% of the federal poverty level (around $120,000/year for a family of four). Any leftover funding can then serve students above that threshold. 

Students With Special Needs

ESA programs are a lifeline for students who need support beyond what their local public school can provide. ESAs make it possible to access schools that are set up to help students who have unique learning needs and disabilities. ESA funds can also help pay for other essential resources like tutoring, therapies, and learning technologies. 

Homeschooling Families

ESAs don’t just cover school tuition. They can pay for curriculum, online programs, and supplies, giving parents the option to fully customize their child’s education. This flexibility means that ESAs can help as an alternative to public or private schools. 

What kind of impact could ESAs have on communities in Ģ����Ƶ?��

Since Ģ����Ƶ’s ESA program, the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship, is new, it will be a few years before we know its exact impact on our communities. But we can get an idea from other states that have ESAs, including a couple of Ģ����Ƶ’s neighbors.

• Better support for public schools: In 2011, Arizona became the first state to adopt ESAs. The state soon found that the program was helping to redirect state and federal dollars back to public schools where it could be used for teacher pay and operational needs.
  
  
• Better outcomes for low-income students: Created in 2019, is now the largest in the country. A November 2023 of Florida’s education system looked at the impact of growing school choice. It found students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds—including those who stayed in public schools—experienced some of the greatest benefits.
  

• Better economic opportunity and healthier societies: Tennessee is still working to expand its ESA program, but a study from the Beacon Center of Tennessee found that a statewide program could have incredible social impact. Their model predicted that Tennessee could have more high school graduates, higher overall personal income, less criminal activity and fewer felons, and $2.9 billion in economic benefits.

Do parents want education savings accounts in Ģ����Ƶ?��

Overall, Americans are worried about the direction of public K-12 education. 

• think it’s moving in the wrong direction.��
• say the state of public K-12 education has worsened in the last five years.��
• Only of school parents in Ģ����Ƶ think K-12 education is on the right track in the state of Ģ����Ƶ.��

It’s not surprising, then, that Ģ����Ƶ parents are open to more school choice policies: say they’re in favor of an ESA program.

What are common concerns about education savings accounts in Ģ����Ƶ?

Concern: ESAs take funding away from public schools.  

Ģ����Ƶ communities don’t have to worry about this because state lawmakers are not using public school funding for the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship. Promise Scholarship funding is also not allowed to exceed 1% of public school funding. This set-up means public school funding is fully protected. 

In general, more research is showing that, when states invest in school choice programs like ESAs, public schools benefit financially and academically. They have , , and . 

Concern: ESAs favor wealthy families and don’t help kids who actually need the opportunity. 

Quality education is a building block of a healthy, flourishing life, regardless of a family’s financial situation. ESAs are a tool states can use to ensure there’s more equality when it comes to education opportunities. 

Even if an ESA program is universal—where every student is eligible—the students who gain the most opportunities are . Here in Ģ����Ƶ, our ESA program, the Promise Scholarship, limits eligibility to students in low-income households to make sure they get helped first. 

Concern: ESAs are just another private school voucher. 

Education savings accounts can be used for private school tuition but also for much more! Unlike private school scholarships, ESAs can be used for —including tuition, tutoring, online programs, education therapies, curriculum, and textbooks. 

Concern: ESAs don’t help families in rural areas. 

Rural areas may not have as many schools to choose from, but thanks to the flexibility of ESAs, this doesn’t have to be a reason for states to avoid ESA programs.

Take , for example. Tanya is a mom of two kids with special needs living in rural Ģ����Ƶ. Despite her best efforts to work with the local public school, it just isn’t equipped to give special needs students the help they need. An ESA would give her the resources to homeschool and access specialized therapies so that her kids can have the type of education that matches their needs. 

Ģ����Ƶ ESAs: Quick Facts

• Ģ����Ƶ is one of with an ESA program.��
• have universal ESA programs, meaning all students are eligible. Ģ����Ƶ is not yet one of them.��
• Ģ����Ƶ’s ESAs are worth $6,500 per student per school year.
• in Ģ����Ƶ support ESAs.

Interested in Ģ����Ƶ’s ESA program?��

to sign up for updates as the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship gets up and running. 

Other Schooling Options in Ģ����Ƶ

• Public School Transfers
• ��

The post Everything to Know Ģ����Ƶ Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) in Ģ����Ƶ appeared first on For Opportunity.

We have much to celebrate as the 2023 Ģ����Ƶ legislative session comes to a close. At the same time, there is still much work to be done. That’s what this blog post is all about. First, we’ll take a look at recent victories in the area of education during the session. Then, we’ll talk about the road ahead—what still needs to be accomplished for the good of Ģ����Ƶ’s schoolchildren and families.

The Ģ����Ƶ Center for Opportunity team serves as an important source of information to lawmakers on the impact new laws can have on communities around Ģ����Ƶ, particularly the poor and underrepresented.

School literacy bills

A bright spot in the 2023 legislative session was the passage of two literacy bills that will improve reading and writing skills among Ģ����Ƶ’s kids. According to the Ģ����Ƶ Department of Education, only 64% of Ģ����Ƶ’s third-graders read at or above grade level. These bills will pave the way for our children to enjoy greater literacy, which will impact their educational and professional future.

Here is more about the two bills:

House Bill 538: The requires the state Board of Education to “approve high-quality instructional materials to be used for teaching students in kindergarten through third grade.” This will give Ģ����Ƶ an opportunity to raise the bar on literacy education for public school students in every community.��

Senate Bill 211: This legislation establishes the Ģ����Ƶ Council on Literacy. The Council will work with local school systems to develop a five-year plan to improve reading and writing among Ģ����Ƶ’s students. Coupled with state-approved instructional materials, we have renewed hope for seeing significant improvements in literacy over the next few years.

School safety

The next bill passage regards school safety, which is always an incredibly important topic, but which has received heightened attention in recent months. Here’s a look at the coming changes.

• • House Bill 147: The Safe Schools Act requires local school districts to develop safety plans and submit those plans to the Ģ����Ƶ Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS). Because of the heightened threats on schools these days, having districts work with the experts at GEMA/HS will increase the safety of our children.

��It’s important to act quickly, and act together, for the benefit of our kids.

��It’s important to act quickly, and act together, for the benefit of our kids.

School accreditation

Finally, let’s go over the school accreditation bill that passed during this year’s session.��

• • Senate Bill 204: This legislation puts parameters on what K-12 school accreditation organizations can consider when they evaluate school districts. The bill is designed to address concerns that these organizations were limiting local elected school boards’ important discussions and debates.

Bad news from the 2023 Ģ����Ƶ legislative session

Now for the bad news. Despite passing in the Senate and making significant gains in the House, the Promise Scholarship bill (SB 233) didn’t get enough votes to pass on the last day of session. This delay has forced 500,000+ kids in failing public schools to wait yet another year for this critical education option.

Ģ����Ƶ’s General Assembly missed opportunities to adopt three other good education reforms. We’ll address each, but first, we’ll cover what happened to SB 233.��

What happened to promise scholarships?

The, SB 233, would have given parents $6,500 per year, per student to find the right education options for their kids. This would have opened up many non-traditional options, including private school, for families who want alternatives to the public school route. Eligibility would have been narrowed to around 400,000 kids stuck in the bottom 25% of public schools, based on the Ģ����Ƶ Department of Education’s evaluation.

• • The Promise Scholarship bill passed the Senate with unanimous support from Republican senators but, sadly, received no support from Democratic senators. It went all the way to the House of Representatives for a vote. The fact that the bill made it that far in the legislative process is good news.

• • On the last day of session, SB 233 received 85 votes in the House—six votes short of the 91 needed for passage. Sixteen Republican representatives voted against the bill. All but one Democratic representative voted against SB 233: the brave Rep. Mesha Mainor (Atlanta), who voted for the bill on behalf of her constituents’ interests.

• • Thankfully, SB 233 is still on the table for the 2024 legislative session. In the meantime, Ģ����Ƶ students stuck in underperforming schools will be forced to wait another year for this education option to be considered.

The ugly: Public school transfers, charter school management, and tax credit scholarships

As promised, let’s look at three other important opportunities the Ģ����Ƶ Legislature missed during the 2023 session. None of the following bills gained the traction they needed, depriving Ģ����Ƶ families and children of important or increased educational opportunities for at least one more year.��

• • Senate Bill 147 would have allowed students to transfer to attend better public schools, even if it was in a different school district. Other states like Arizona, Florida, and Indiana have seen success with similar laws. The bill never gained any traction, but can be considered again next year.
• • House Bill 318 would have streamlined the oversight of state- and locally-authorized charter schools. The bill passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support, but late amendments to the bill delayed the process. The Legislature adjourned for the session without the opportunity to agree to the Senate changes.

• • House Bill 54 would have increased the cap on Ģ����Ƶ’s Tax Credit Scholarship program from $120 million to $130 million. After going through changes in the House, the bill passed that chamber and moved on to the Senate. In a raucous Senate Committee meeting, the Tax Credit Scholarship portion of the bill was amended several times with unfriendly amendments, and ultimately, the bill died. Fortunately, the program is still operating under the existing cap of $120 million, giving Student Scholarship Organizations the opportunity to continue serving many Ģ����Ƶ students.

Looking toward 2024

While Ģ����Ƶ made important strides forward in school literacy, safety, and accreditation for 2023, there’s still much to be desired when it comes to opportunities for students and their families. It’s our mission to continue championing the value of bills like SB 233. Putting school funding into the hands of parents who wish to depart from the state’s status quo only makes sense; families’ tax dollars should support whatever educational path they choose.��

Likewise, school choice and tax credit scholarships should be open to a wider demographic of families statewide. It’s important to act quickly, and act together, for the benefit of our kids. As we look forward to the next legislative session, we’ll do everything we can to champion positive change.

The post Education successes from the 2023 Ģ����Ƶ legislative session appeared first on For Opportunity.

Key Points

• Arkansas is the fourth state in the U.S. to legislate universal educational opportunity — the others are Arizona, Utah, and Iowa.
• Ģ����Ƶ Senate passed the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship Act () in a 33-23 vote. It will go on to the House next, where it has traditionally faced more opposition.
• Ģ����Ƶ Senate passed the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship Act () in a 33-23 vote. It will go on to the House next, where it has traditionally faced more opposition.��

Arkansas recently joined a growing list of states that have approved Education Scholarship Accounts, empowering parents to make the best decisions for their child’s unique educational needs.

The accounts, (EFAs), will contain around $6,600 in funds per student every year. Families can then use the available funds to pay for education-related fees, including tuition, tutoring, textbooks, therapies, and other costs which have been approved by the state.��

It will take three years to fully phase in the act. By the end of the third year, all students in Arkansas will be eligible for EFAs.

The creation of these accounts makes Arkansas the fourth state in the U.S. to legislate universal educational opportunity — the others are Arizona, Utah, and Iowa.

Now, Ģ����Ƶ could be next.

Last week, the Ģ����Ƶ Senate passed the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship Act () in a 33-23 vote. It will go on to the House next, where it has traditionally faced more opposition.��

If enacted into law, the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship Act would fund $6,000 per student every school year. Promise Scholarships would give families the financial freedom to select an educational environment that best fits their child’s needs. A wide range of educational expenses would be approved under the act, including tutoring, virtual classes, private school tuition, homeschool curriculum, special needs therapies, technology, college courses, and more.��

In the wake of the pandemic, parents nationwide are demanding more options for their children’s education. Learning loss is one of many major crises to arise from nationwide lockdowns. At Ģ����Ƶ Center for Opportunity, we believe it is the state’s responsibility to help reverse that loss.

Families across the state need access to more opportunities now. With Promise Scholarships, Ģ����Ƶ’s children will have more opportunities to excel at school. Every child deserves empowerment through a high-quality education that works best for him or her. We believe that Ģ����Ƶ should lend support to every educational option for its students, including alternatives like homeschooling and virtual learning.��

Promise Scholarships would give families the financial freedom to select an educational environment that best fits their child’s needs.

Promise Scholarships would give families the financial freedom to select an educational environment that best fits their child’s needs.

Over the past few years, more and more families have embraced alternatives to public education. While the majority of students across Ģ����Ƶ still attend public schools (and will likely continue to in the future), a growing minority of families are choosing differently. And, as the nation collectively faced an unprecedented pandemic, parents began to realize how many options were available to them outside the traditional school system.

Traditionally, families who select private schools or opt to homeschool receive no financial support to do so. Despite that choice, their tax dollars continue to fund public schools whose services they do not use.��

Parents with special needs children struggle to find school systems that will accommodate their children’s needs. Often, they find that one facility lacks all the important resources they need so their children can thrive at school. While they could opt to build a hybrid program for their children, which might include home healthcare or virtual classes, those alternatives are cost-prohibitive.��

Ultimately, we believe that tax dollars should follow each child, meeting their unique needs along the way. There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to education. Public, private, home, and virtual education are of equal value, and as each family decides what is best for their children, Ģ����Ƶ should be willing to meet them where they are.��

As the Ģ����Ƶ Promise Scholarship Act moves to the House, we urge you to contact your local representative to advocate for this bill. Our children can’t wait any longer for educational support that fits their individual needs and allows them to thrive. The future is depending on us.

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In 2024, Ģ����Ƶ legislators are considering an expansion to Ģ����Ƶ’s Tax Credit Scholarship program. Through this program, businesses and individuals toward private school scholarships for K-12 students enrolled in public schools. In return, they receive a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit.

In 2022, the state Legislature raised the program cap by $20 million, bringing it up to $120 million from $100 million. But that increase hasn’t proven large enough to keep up with communities’ positive response. Lawmakers are now looking at a that would raise the total program cap to $200 million, and expand the number of students the program can serve. 

“It’s clear that demand for the program is strong. The existing $120 million cap was met on the very first day of applications in 2023,” noted Buzz Brockway, Vice President of Public Policy at the Ģ����Ƶ Center for Opportunity. “Ģ����Ƶ families are demanding more options, and lawmakers would be wise to take notice.”

Here are a few reasons why raising the cap on Ģ����Ƶ’s tax credit scholarship program would help students, parents, and the state’s overall education system:

1. The Ģ����Ƶ Tax Credit Scholarship program makes private school access more equitable.

Private schools are often an education option available to families who can afford them. Through Ģ����Ƶ’s Tax Credit Scholarship, lower and middle-income families can get financial support to access private schools as a viable option when the local public school isn’t the best fit for their child.

But what about families in rural areas? According to a 2017 by The Brookings Institute, 69% of families living in rural areas have a private school within 10 miles. Increasing the program cap for Ģ����Ƶ’s tax credit scholarships would help rural Ģ����Ƶ families in this situation. For those that aren’t, there’s still a benefit: Growing the tax credit scholarship program is a way to encourage more private schools to launch and fill education gaps in areas where options are fewer and farther between. 

2. Raising the program cap makes it possible to serve more kids.

Currently 500,000 Ģ����Ƶ students are in schools that are underperforming or simply aren’t meeting their specific needs. Increasing the program cap means more families could enjoy the flexibility to consider one of Ģ����Ƶ’s when seeking out a school that matches their kid’s learning style, their personal values, or other preferences. In 2021, were awarded to eligible students. Imagine how many more kids we could help if Ģ����Ƶ’s tax credit scholarship program expanded to $200 million. 

3. Expanding our tax credit scholarship program would bring Ģ����Ƶ up-to-date with other states.

Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Iowa, and Nevada have all taken note of the growing popularity of tax credit scholarships and have responded by on their various programs. Whether it’s tax credit scholarships or other options like Education Savings Accounts, the momentum to embrace more education choice programs is building across , raising the question of whether Ģ����Ƶ will keep up.

With Ģ����Ƶ’s Tax Credit Scholarship, kids in Atlanta’s crime-ridden neighborhoods have found a safe place to go to school, allowing them to improve academically and pursue their dreams.

4. It’s one option to relieve parents’ frustration with one-size-fits-all education options.

A recent poll of 5,000 parents, conducted by the Harris Poll, revealed that 20% of parents switched schools for their kids during the pandemic. The pandemic itself is a tired topic, but the trend it introduced in education isn’t: Over the last two years, parents’ desire for more education options has skyrocketed as many of them realize that traditional public schools don’t work for every kid. 

By investing in educational choice programs, we can guarantee families access to a variety of stellar learning experiences that help their children reach great heights—academically, socially, vocationally…the list goes on. Ģ����Ƶ’s tax credit scholarship program makes private schools one of these meaningful options, regardless of where families live or how much they earn. 

5. Increasing education tax credits gets more businesses and individuals involved in our kids’ futures.

A quality education, tailored to a student’s unique needs, prepares kids for the workplace, for community involvement, and for life. That’s why education is more than a parental concern—it should be a community priority. We all benefit when kids have access to the education option that will help them become healthy, successful citizens, employees, relatives, and friends as they grow up. Ģ����Ƶ’s Tax Credit Scholarship gives our communities—both businesses and taxpayers—a way to directly invest in K-12 education and ensure bright futures for our students. By raising the program cap, we can expand the investment opportunities available to current donors and to new businesses and individuals who want to get involved.  

Related Reading: Ģ����Ƶ School Choice In the News

Ģ����Ƶ students need more schooling choices (GCO in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) 

(The Center Square)

(Washington Examiner)

The post 5 Reasons Why It’s a Good Idea to Expand Ģ����Ƶ’s Tax Credit Scholarship appeared first on For Opportunity.

Key Points

• On the House side, the leadership team has nearly universal pro-educational opportunity voting record in recent history.

• Seventy-five percent said “students are mostly still behind due to school closures” from the pandemic, while two-thirds of parents said their students have lost learning due to the pandemic.��

• Ģ����Ƶ must follow in the footsteps of states like Arizona and West Virginia, which recently passed significant new laws that expand educational access for all.

Those who support opening up access to all educational options for every child in Ģ����Ƶ have a lot to celebrate this holiday season. That’s because a new lineup of leadership in the Ģ����Ƶ Legislature increases the likelihood that our state will soon see new and innovative ways for parents to access the right and best educational option for their child.

New leadership, new opportunities

Following the results of the 2022 elections, new leadership will be taking over both chambers of the state legislature. On the House side, the leadership team has nearly universal pro-educational opportunity voting record in recent history: Jan Jones (Speaker Pro Tem), Chuck Efstration (Majority Leader), James Burchett (Majority Whip), Bruce Williamson (Caucus Chair), Houston Gaines (Caucus Vice Chair), and Ginny Ehrhart (Caucus Treasurer) all have 100% pro-educational freedom voting records.

The only member of House leadership without a perfect record on these issues is the new House Speaker, Burns. But even he only has one vote off, the 2018 vote on the Educational Savings Account, the last time a bill of this nature was voted on in the House. Burns was nominated by the Republican caucus to become House Speaker beginning in the 2023 session.

What about on the Senate side? The good news is that only one member of Senate leadership — Jason Anavitarte, Caucus Chair — that would have created . But Anavitarte voted “yes” on other pieces of educational opportunity legislation, including raising the tax credit scholarship cap and increasing funding for charter schools. Other top members of Senate leadership — including President Pro Tem John Kennedy, Majority Leader Steve Gooch, and Majority Whip Randy Robertson — all have 100% positive voting records when it comes to educational opportunity.

Parents want more options

from the Walton Family Foundation found that parents who voted are deeply concerned about the direction of K-12 public education in the United States.

The poll found that 72% of voters believe “improving K-12 education” should be a top priority for state lawmakers headed into 2023. Only the economy and inflation ranked higher at 76%.��

Americans are also still deeply concerned about learning losses from pandemic-induced classroom closures. Seventy-five percent said “students are mostly still behind due to school closures” from the pandemic, while two-thirds of parents said their students have lost learning due to the pandemic.��

On average, parents said their kids missed 21 days of school in 2021 due to the pandemic.��

As for what changes need to be in store for K-12 education, in Oct. 2021 36% of voters said they wanted to see “bold changes” for schools, while that number jumped to 46% by Nov. 2022.��

Voters’ top priorities include ensuring that every child is on track in reading, writing, and math; addressing the teacher shortage; offering more career and technical education; and improving security and safety on school grounds.��

Ģ����Ƶ must follow in the footsteps of states like Arizona and West Virginia, which recently passed significant new laws that expand educational access for all.

Ģ����Ƶ must follow in the footsteps of states like Arizona and West Virginia, which recently passed significant new laws that expand educational access for all.

Expanding educational access

Throughout the 2023 session, the Ģ����Ƶ Center for Opportunity will be advocating for a bill similar to the one in 2022, for Promise Scholarship Accounts. Key facets of these accounts would be to enable all Ģ����Ƶ families to attend the school that best fits their student’s needs.

The 2022 version of the bill would have offered families up to $6,000 a year for approved education expenses. Promise Scholarships would step far beyond a typical voucher by fully putting parents in the driver’s seat when it comes to their child’s education. The funds could have been used for private-school tuition, but there would have been added flexibility depending on each family’s unique needs, extending to paying for things like tutoring, specialized therapies, or homeschool co-ops.

Ģ����Ƶ must follow in the footsteps of states like Arizona and West Virginia, which recently passed significant new laws that expand educational access for all.

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Key Points

• As of June, 35 states and D.C. have not recovered the number of lost jobs
• The labor force has shrunk despite population growth.
• Its stated goal of the Federal Reserve remains the same–to reduce inflation to its 2% target, meaning it will take steps to prevent the price level from coming back down. This bad policy goal will burden the working class and the poor and retired persons the most.

It may not matter if federal policy does not change.

We’ve seen some back-to-back encouraging news within the last few weeks. The Employment Situation Report for July showed that the United States finally recovered the number of its lost jobs from the start of the pandemic, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate for July was essentially zero. But digging a little deeper to put the news into perspective reveals real concerns that stagflation will not end anytime soon.

The States Who Are Driving the Job Recovery

On the jobs front, yes, it’s true we’ve recovered the number of lost jobs benchmarked to February 2020 before the drastic impact on the labor market from COVID-19. This indicates we’re on the mend, but the job recovery process has not been the “V” shape hoped for at the beginning of the pandemic, one that would have meant a robust job recovery.��

Two-and-a-half years later, the civilian non-institutionalized population base that feeds the labor force grew by 4.8 million. Our own ARIMA Model job forecast shows we are approximately 5.8 million jobs short of where we would have been had the pandemic not happened.��

But this is not the case for all 50 states. Astoundingly, four states—Montana, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming—have matched or nearly matched their pre-pandemic ARIMA Model forecasts, effectively eliminating any impact from the pandemic on the number of lost jobs.��

In the meantime, the national job recovery to pre-pandemic levels is driven probably by just 15 states who already recovered their number of lost jobs prior to the nation as a whole. These states are Utah, Idaho, Texas, Montana, North Carolina, Ģ����Ƶ, Florida, Tennessee, Arizona, South Dakota, Colorado, Arkansas, Indiana, and Nevada.��

As of June, the remaining 35 states and D.C. have not recovered the number of lost jobs. We have to wait another week before we know whether another state slipped onto the list of leading states that helped tip the balance for the national July data.��

According to our analysis, a common feature of the leading states is that they tend to have more than the other states do. Incidentally, and for explanatory reasons and not for the purpose of getting political, all but three of the 15 leading states have given political control to the governor’s office and both chambers of the state legislature to the Republican Party.

Jobs Versus People Employed��

One problem with job data is that the dataset allows for double counting. If we want to count the number of people employed, it paints a different picture.��

The Current Population Survey shows the U.S. is still more than half a million workers short when compared to February 2020. In fact, we had fewer employed persons in July than March of this year, using seasonally adjusted data.��

The reason is that the labor force has shrunk despite population growth. This can be seen with the 62.1% labor force participation rate that is more than a percentage point below where it stood in February 2020.

This means that the 3.5% unemployment rate—which now matches its pre-pandemic level—is misleading. The shrinkage of the labor force is distorting the meaning of the metric.

Taken together on a national scale, jobs have recovered but the number of employed persons has not. This can mean only one thing. More people are working multiple jobs to make ends meet.��

Inflation versus the Price Level

July’s CPI ever-so-slightly decreased. It ticked down 0.2% at an annualized rate–a welcome change from the past 25 months. Just to keep this in perspective, the price level nonetheless increased 14.1% since the start of the pandemic. But there is no need to tell this to average consumers who have been feeling it in their pocketbooks.��

Disturbingly, the Federal Reserve shows no interest in doing something about the –and who isn’t even discussing it. Its stated goal remains the same–to reduce inflation to its 2% target, meaning it will take steps to prevent the price level from coming back down. This bad policy goal will burden the working class and the poor and retired persons the most.

“Disturbingly, the Federal Reserve shows no interest in doing something about the –and who isn’t even discussing it. Its stated goal remains the same–to reduce inflation to its 2% target, meaning it will take steps to prevent the price level from coming back down. This bad policy goal will burden the working class and the poor and retired persons the most.”

“Disturbingly, the Federal Reserve shows no interest in doing something about the –and who isn’t even discussing it. Its stated goal remains the same–to reduce inflation to its 2% target, meaning it will take steps to prevent the price level from coming back down. This bad policy goal will burden the working class and the poor and retired persons the most.”

Fiscal and Regulatory Policy

The Federal Reserve does not stand alone with its bad policy. Congress and the Administration are just as guilty, if not more so.

Excessive fiscal spending also drives up the price level. Worse, increasing business taxes will pull�� resources from businesses. These resources are needed to produce goods and services that we all use and enjoy. It also enables these very same businesses to pay workers and compensate investors, and it leads to more economic growth and prosperity. Likewise, more excessive regulatory restrictions have similar negative effects on people and the economy.

Increasing business taxes and regulating businesses even more at this time will not help keep prices down. Rather, a good portion of these higher costs will be passed onto consumers.�� And they will be passed on to consumers to the degree that individual businesses are able to do so. If businesses can’t pass all or even some of those costs on to consumers, then they will be forced to make more difficult decisions, such as cutting back on the number of employees or suspending pay raises to employees. Profits will clearly suffer that may cause a few businesses to scale back or exit the industry altogether. These consequential actions all aggravate stagnation. Add in the price increases and we get more stagflation, not less.

Unfortunately, the President just signed into law the erroneously named Inflation Reduction Act that will do nothing about inflation, but it will hike business taxes and increase regulations that will only worsen the economic situation.��

Congress and the Administration need to start following the lead from the states who are doing it right. Only pro- growth policies relying on innovation and production organically sprouted from within the economy will help us out of this mess, and it won’t work if politicians think that means taking money from successful businesses or imposing new mandates on others or picking the winners and losers in the economy.

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As a teacher, Julie Young knew her grandson was going to need help outside of the classroom. He had been diagnosed with dyslexia, and he struggled to “retain anything he saw on paper,” Julie said.

Julie and her family live in Arizona, where students with special needs are among the children eligible for education savings accounts. Julie applied for an account and saw results almost immediately.

She used the account to enroll him in occupational therapy, and “within a matter of weeks, I noticed a huge improvement,” Julie says. “His OT helped him memorize his multiplication tables by using silly songs. Every day he made gains in areas that never seemed to stick before,” she says.

, the state deposits a portion of a child’s funds from the state education formula into a private account that parents use to buy education products and services for their children. Lawmakers in six states have enacted such laws, including Ģ����Ƶ’s neighbors: Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi (Nevada and North Carolina legislators have also passed legislation).

The accounts are distinct from private school scholarships because parents and students can select multiple learning options simultaneously. It’s not unusual for account holders to find a personal tutor for their child, enroll their student in education therapy services, and pay for instructional materials to be used at home. Research from finds that approximately one-third of account holders use education savings accounts for a set of learning options. More than 40 percent of Florida account holders do so.

Parents want to be able to challenge their students and are prepared to customize their child’s learning experience. explained that doctors had diagnosed her son as being on the autism spectrum, and despite special services in a district school, he had not learned to talk. After using an account to select a speech therapist of their choosing, “Nathan has learned to talk and he loves learning to spell and even reading books… He’s using complete sentences and even asking and answering questions on a regular basis.”

In Florida, a mom of three adopted children and two biological children uses an account (called Gardiner Scholarships) for her adopted daughter, Elizabeth, to buy instructional materials for use in the home. In an interview, the mom said, “I could reinforce what was and wasn’t happening in the classroom.” Today, Elizabeth has returned to a district school, and her mom says she “wouldn’t be where we are without the intense therapies that I was able to do because of the Gardiner scholarship.”

Now Ģ����Ƶ lawmakers are considering a proposal that would make accounts available to children with special needs, students from low income families, adopted children, students in active duty military families, and children who have been bullied in school.

Experiences from other states demonstrate that students from all walks of life can benefit from the accounts. Arizona lawmakers enacted the nation’s first law in 2011 for children with special needs but have expanded student eligibility since. By the 2015-2016 school year, approximately 40 percent of account holders were children that met other eligibility criteria: 15 percent of account holders were students previously assigned to failing schools; 11 percent were children from military families; 8 percent were adopted students; and 6 percent were Native American students living on tribal lands.

As for Julie, an education savings account has allowed her to set new goals for her grandson. “My grandson understands his limitations,” she says. “He has a long road to go before all of his basic skills are mastered, but I feel confident that so long as we can… [meet] his individual needs, he will succeed in anything he chooses to do.”

Every Ģ����Ƶ parent or loved one wants to have the same vision for success for their child. The education savings account proposal puts these aspirations within reach for thousands of students across the state. Every family wants to have an opportunity like this.

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Under the proposed legislation, and as described on this blog, the state deposits a portion of a child’s funds from the state formula into a private account that parents use to buy educational products and services for their children. Parents can choose different learning options like online classes, personal tutors, and private school tuition simultaneously, customizing a child’s education to meet their needs.

Some Ģ����Ƶ parents have complained of surging enrollment in public schools in recent years. Between 2014 and 2016, Ģ����Ƶ public school enrollment increased 7 percent or 117,000 students, according to and sources. Decatur’s increases have been dramatic: District schools experienced a increase over the past decade. Recent reports of overcrowding have also come from , , and . In some cases, on the way to school due to class reassignments.

In Dalton, a Daily Citizen headline said residents are imploring lawmakers to “do something” about student overcrowding. Data from states where lawmakers have enacted education savings accounts demonstrate that student participation can help relieve the pressure on schools that see rapid enrollment growth. In Arizona, 3,500 are using accounts today (approximately 1 percent of the eligible student population). In Florida, students are using the accounts. These modest figures can help with overcrowding issues.

that 156,000 Ģ����Ƶ students would use the accounts after 3 years and cost taxpayers $700 million bears no resemblance to student participation or funding in other states where students are using the accounts. This estimate is equivalent to having all the students leave DeKalb County and Atlanta Public Schools.

Even Ģ����Ƶ’s existing private school choice options which have been in place for many years have not grown this fast. Ģ����Ƶ’s private school scholarships for children with special needs have been available for nearly a decade, and fewer than 4,000 students are using a scholarship. Another Ģ����Ƶ private school scholarship offering is available to nearly all state students, and 13,000 children are using a scholarship (less than 1 percent of students in the state)—a figure that has held steady since 2012.

Meanwhile, lawmakers should consider how education savings accounts can be an efficient use of taxpayer money. According to the legislation, each Ģ����Ƶ account would be worth $4,500. The average student attending a traditional public school in Ģ����Ƶ is funded at . Average per student funding figures indicate Decatur’s 4,662 students—an all-time high—require more than $48 million from taxpayers annually. Their education savings accounts would use less than half this amount.

Estimates that education savings accounts would syphon students and funds from Ģ����Ƶ schools do not correspond with existing evidence. But the accounts can be a solution for Ģ����Ƶ lawmakers to moderate crowded classrooms while also providing families more educational options.

For more information about ESAs in Ģ����Ƶ, click here.

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President Obama has left office, and the results of the ideas issued under his watch are coming in. Education research demonstrates we didn’t always get a bargain. A new study finds that a multi-billion-dollar federal grant program that incentivized district schools to change their operations neither changed such operations nor resulted in student achievement.

From 2009 to 2016, the U.S. Department of Education awarded (SIG). Each year, the agency divided approximately $500 million between states as part of Obama’s stimulus package to help ease schools out of the financial crisis that started in 2007. Ģ����Ƶ schools received approximately $16 million per year from 2014-16.

like adding instructional time to the school day (part of what are called the “transformation” and “turnaround” methods); convert to a charter school; or close the school and send students to better-performing schools.

The result? —none—on student achievement, graduation rates, or college enrollment.

Note this key detail: Researchers studied 1,200 participating schools and found that the transformation/turnaround methods were by far the most popular choices for schools. Just 33 schools converted to a charter school and 16 closed and allowed students to attend higher performing schools (3 percent and 1 percent of 1,253 schools, respectively). Thus, more money and grant applications promising to teach differently did not result in drastic changes.

Remarkably, researchers had already documented that some of the strategies SIG incentivized in the transformation/turnaround approaches were not supported by rigorous evidence: “Previous literature provides mixed evidence on the effectiveness of some of these practices at raising student achievement.” Yet Washington still spent some over nearly a decade encouraging these activities.

Meanwhile, approximately from 2009 to 2016. Today, more than 6,000 charter schools operate nationwide. Charter schools are different state-to-state, but in some areas where all public school results disappoint, like Detroit, Michigan, charter schools are outperforming district schools. President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Department of Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, have cited Detroit’s low scores and DeVos’s support of parental choice in Michigan as evidence that she is not qualified for the post.

But demonstrate that Detroit charter school students are outperforming their peers in traditional schools. DeVos’s skeptics are free to scrutinize her policy positions, but opponents lose credibility when they misrepresent data.

Likewise, in Arizona, charter schools outperform district schools in terms of eventual college graduates. Charter schools account for , yet charter schools make up for .

Arizona charter schools—like nearly all charter schools in the U.S.—are producing these results despite being funded with less money per student than district public schools. Ģ����Ƶ charter schools are funded at approximately than district schools, and low-income 8th grade charter students are outperforming their peers in a national comparison. Now there’s a bargain.

Again, more SIG schools opted not to convert to a charter school with their grant money, choosing more administrative changes instead. And researchers did not find better student outcomes.

Let’s hope policymakers learned a lesson from a failed experiment relying on more taxpayer money for public schools. Lawmakers should commit to giving parents and children more quality educational choices over the next four years. Families will get a better deal when they can choose how and where their children learn.

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