Tag Archives: Alliance for School Choice

Sometimes even shameful things can work out for good, with good people working hard to make sure kids can keep the quality education options they have received through school choice. In Arizona, thankfully they worked very quickly. Things went awry on March 25, when the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on a shameful lawsuit by shutting down two voucher programs that served special-needs and foster care kids. Even then, though, as my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow reported for School Reform News, there was a ray of light: [Executive director of the Arizona chapter of the Institute for Justice Tim] Keller said that remains a possibility in Arizona, where it could be accomplished by popular vote either through a legislatively initiated referendum or a citizens’ petition drive. “Right now, every conceivable legal option is still on the table,” he said. Fast forward 65 days to this monumental press release from the Alliance for School Choice:

I may not have been able to throw my Legos far enough to hit him, but Education Secretary Arne Duncan is taking plenty of lumps from others, reports Joanne Jacobs and Jay Greene (see here and here and here). Of course, what Duncan is allowing to happen to the Washington DC Opportunity Scholarship Program is perhaps just the most outrageous of the latest challenges to school choice. There’s also the recent Arizona Supreme Court decision, and continuing attacks against the Milwaukee voucher program. In a new iVoices podcast, listen to Scott Jensen from the Alliance for School Choice discuss with my Education Policy Center friend Pam Benigno not only the challenges but the opportunities facing supporters of educational freedom at this momentous time: Let’s stay strong and not lose heart, folks. School choice is a major (and indispensable) part of the answer to our education woes, and there are many, many kids my age and older who are worth fighting for.

So I just started cooling down a bit from yesterday (I assure you, no Legos were thrown … at least not directly at anybody). Then I watched this Fox News clip about the U.S. Senate trying to take away vouchers from people like Mercedes Campbell (H/T Edspresso): That Glenn Beck guy? I can tell he feels like I do. Jeanne Allen explains what’s at stake so eloquently. And then I’m just left feeling bad for Mercedes and the 1,700 other kids in Washington, D.C., whose scholarships are at stake. Are you outraged yet, too? After taking a couple deep breaths, I had to go around and look for some good news, and found this: “Appeals Court Rules School Choice Program is Constitutional”. At least the 1,947 kids benefiting from Arizona’s corporate tax credit program have won a victory. And I don’t have to consider throwing Legos at any judges. That could probably get me in trouble, anyway.

A really great group called the Alliance for School Choice is building a team of school choice supporters from across the country. Here’s a chance for you to step up and help! The Alliance has created a brand-new website called School Choice Works. If you go there as one of the first 10,000 people to sign up, you will receive a free bumper sticker, a free school choice handbook, and school choice magazines. (Since I’m only 5 years old, that 10,000 looks like a really big number to me. But it sounds like you have a great opportunity to get some free stuff of your own to help spread the message.) Regardless, I’m inviting you to sign up and help strengthen the grassroots voice for school choice. When opportunities to speak up for school choice legislation or related issues develop in your state, you will be empowered as part of a team to act quickly and make a difference. Especially all my friends in Colorado, let’s do our state proud! Please sign up for School Choice Works today. Remember, in a real way, it really is for the children.

Less than three weeks after it cleared the major hurdle of the state senate, Louisiana’s private tuition scholarship pilot program officially has become law: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal [on June 26] signed a landmark $10 million scholarship program into law. The new program will benefit low-income families in New Orleans and marks a major turning point for education reform in the Bayou State. Sponsored by two New Orleans Democrats–Senator Ann Duplessis and Representative Austin Badon–the plan passed both houses of the Louisiana Legislature with bipartisan support. With the new school year fast approaching, it is estimated that hundreds of students will apply for scholarships of up to $6,300 to attend the private schools of their parents’ choice. For the first year of the program, only children in public schools, grades K-3, are eligible to participate. For each additional year, the scholarships would continue to support those students as they advance to the next grade level, with new groups of K-3 students entering every year. This indicates that the program could grow incrementally, and benefit more students each year. The scholarships are reserved for children in families with an income that does not exceed 250 percent of federal poverty guidelines. So […]

Louisiana’s young governor sure looks to be making himself into a school choice hero, with a bipartisan legislative victory nearly under his belt: Gov. Bobby Jindal moved one step closer Wednesday to final approval for a $10 million pilot program that would pay private school tuition for some children in Orleans Parish public schools. The 25-12 Senate vote sends House Bill 1347 by Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, back to the lower chamber for its reconsideration. Some form of the measure, one of Jindal’s top legislative priorities, is now certain to reach the governor’s desk, with the plan slated to start this fall. [emphasis added] Greg Forster points out that Louisiana now looks to have the nation’s 24th school choice (vouchers or tax credits) program. The Alliance for School Choice notes the dire straits of Louisiana’s public school system, and the “hope and educational opportunities” that a plan like the one moving through the state legislature could provide. With school choice advancing in one more state, this guy Greg Anrig must really regret having written this article now. I’m excited for the new opportunity some needy kids in Louisiana are going to get, and hope that Colorado can some day […]