2015 abcs of school choice (friedman foundation symposium/preview)
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the Friedman FoundationResearch Symposium
The 4th Annual International Conference
on School Choice and Reform
January 18, 2015
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Types of School Choice Programs
• Vouchers
• Tax-Credit Scholarships
• Education Savings Accounts (ESAs)
• Individual Tax Credits/Deductions
51 private school choice programs
In 24 states and D.C.
Estimated 337,000 students are enrolled in voucher, ESA, or
tax-credit scholarship programs in 2014-15.
23 voucher programs
• 13 states and D.C.
18 tax-credit scholarship programs (+1, KS)
• 14 states
2 education savings account program (+1, FL)
• Arizona and Florida
8 individual tax credit/deduction programs (-1, NC)
• 7 states
Student Eligibility(% eligible of all K-12 students in jurisdiction)
TopAZ individual tax-credit scholarships (100%)
Cleveland, OH, vouchers (100%)
GA tax-credit scholarships (94%)
OK tax-credit scholarships (79%)
NH tax-credit scholarships (65%)
BottomAL refundable tax credit (4%)
ME town tuitioning vouchers (3%)
MS Nate Rogers vouchers (3%)
VT town tuitioning vouchers (3%)
MS Dyslexia vouchers (2%)
OH Autism vouchers (1%)
Estimated Participation Rates(% participation of eligible students)
Highest Participation
Milwaukee, WI, vouchers (35%)
OH EdChoice vouchers (16%)
OH Autism vouchers (13%)
Cleveland, OH, vouchers (13%)
Racine, WI, vouchers (12%)
WI Statewide vouchers (11%)
FL McKay special needs vouchers (8%)
Less than 2% participation in:
• 12 tax-credit scholarship programs
• 10 voucher programs
Student Funding(considering the average voucher/scholarship value
as percentage of state’s current per-student spending)
Most voucher and
tax-credit scholarship
programs are designed to
prioritize disadvantaged
populations of students.
Out of 23 voucher programs
• 8 limited to low- and middle-income students
• 10 limited to students with special needs
• 11 require “prior-year public school”
• 14 require standardized testing (details vary)
• 2 based on public school accountability (OH, LA)
Out of 18 tax-credit scholarship programs
• 13 limited to low- and middle-income students
• 2 limited to special needs students
• 9 require “prior-year public school”
• 6 require standardized testing (details vary)
• 2 based on public school accountability (PA, KS)
• 15 have statutory budget caps (2 “escalators”)
About the Friedman Foundation
edchoice.org
• Est. in 1996 by Milton & Rose Friedman
• Based in Indianapolis, IN
• Annual Activities/Services in 30+ states
• 501(c)(3) / Nonpartisan / Nonprofit
• What do we do?
Research, Data Collection & Analysis
Publishing, Media Relations, Marketing
Partnerships/Coalitions, Government Relations
What we mean by “school choice”
• Separate the public education funding
mechanism from the administration and
operation of schools, and minimize the inherent
conflict of interest in such arrangements.
• The direction and flow of education funding
should follow the student to whichever school –
public or private – that family feels is best to meet
the child’s needs and priorities.
Types of School Choice Programs
• Vouchers – funds typically expended by the state and/or school district
would be allocated to a participating family in the form of a voucher to pay partial
or full tuition for their child’s private school, including both religious and non-
religious options.
• Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) – allow
parents to withdraw their children from public district and receive a deposit of
public funds into government-authorized savings accounts that can apply toward
private school tuition/fees, online learning, private tutoring, and post-secondary
education expenses
• Tax-Credit Scholarships – eligible individual/corporate
taxpayers can receive full or partial tax credits when they donate to nonprofits
that provide private school scholarships.
• Individual Tax Credits/Deductions – tax relief for
educational expenses such as private school tuition, books, etc.
Data Challenges & Limitations
• Staff turnover in DOE’s and DOR’s. Loss of program and institutional
knowledge and/or data protocols. About half of contacts “lost” from last year’s
data collection.
• State agencies with a dedicated “school choice office” made communication
and cooperation much easier with contacts and making new contacts. More
timely response.
• Official data requests (Open Records, FOIA, etc.) necessary for some
programs, particularly for the individual tax credits/deductions.
• DOEs were typically more responsive than DORs. (though for some reason
the folks at LA DOE thought it more important to respond to the US DOJ's
data requests…)
• Significant challenge estimating eligibility for programs with income limits for
specific populations (failing schools, special needs, etc.).
Student Eligibility #Ref1 (estimated counts of K-12 students eligible)
Voucher Programs
NC: Opportunity Scholarships 859,814
IN: Choice Scholarships 682,366
LA: Louisiana Scholarships 461,628
FL: John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities§ 379,490
OH: Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarships§ 257,295
NC: Special Education Scholarship Grants§ 190,091
GA: Georgia Special Needs Scholarships§ 188,257
OH: Educational Choice Scholarships 104,707
OK: Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities§ 100,798
OH: Income-Based Scholarships 78,787
UT: Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships§ 78,270
WI: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program‡‡ 74,420
CO: Choice Scholarships§ 63,044
OH: Cleveland Scholarships 47,749
DC: Opportunity Scholarships 35,246
OH: Autism Scholarships§** 18,726
LA: Scholarships for Certain Students with Exceptionalities§ 16,927
MS: Nate Rogers Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program§** 14,916
WI: Parental Private School Choice Program (Racine)‡‡ 13,448
MS: Dyslexia Therapy Scholarships§ 13,031
WI: Parental Choice Program (Statewide)‡‡ 8,692
Student Eligibility #Ref2 (estimated counts of K-12 students eligible)
Tax-Credit Scholarship Programs
PA: Educational Improvement Tax Credits 1,768,498
GA: Qualified Education Expense Tax Credits 1,671,348
FL: Tax Credit Scholarships 1,352,118
AZ: Original Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarships 1,128,097
AZ: "Switcher" Individual Income Tax Credit Scholarships 1,128,097
IN: School Scholarship Tax Credits 831,144
AZ: Low-Income Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarships 818,930
OK: Equal Opportunity Education Scholarships 755,350
AL: Education Scholarships 668,555
VA: Educational Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credits 647,181
LA: Tuition Donation Rebate 461,628
IA: School Tuition Organization Tax Credits 272,855
NH: Education Tax Credits 224,766
PA: Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credits†† 138,810
AZ: Lexie's Law Corporate Tax Credits† 130,002
KS: Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarships 101,755
SC: Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children§ 99,530
RI: Tax Credits for Contributions to SOs 79,238
Student Eligibility #Ref3 (estimated counts of K-12 students eligible)
ESA Programs
FL: Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts 352,879
AZ: Empowerment Scholarship Accounts†‡ 221,574
Student Eligibility #Ref4 (estimated counts of K-12 students eligible)
Individual Tax Credit/Deduction Programs
IL: Tax Credits for Educational Expenses 3,128,369
MN: Education Deduction 1,372,189
IA: Tuition and Textbook Tax Credits 793,749
MN: K-12 Education Credit 247,821
LA: Elementary and Secondary School Tuition Deduction 112,645
IN: Private School/Homeschool Deduction 111,872
AL: Parent-Taxpayer Refundable Tax Credits* 29,366