Private school choice programs' success depends partly on the supply of private schools. Many parents prioritize a religious education for their children. Therefore, it is important to consider how religious private schools may respond to various program regulations. We conducted an experimental study surveying a national sample of 354 leaders of…

Does state implementation of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), which are voucher-like taxpayer-funded subsidies for children to attend private schools, increase tuition prices? We analyze a novel longitudinal dataset for all private schools in Iowa and Nebraska, neighboring states that adopted ESAs in the same legislative session, with Iowa's…

The traditional K-12 schooling model is a "bundled" product that provides parents with an all-in-one package of services: instruction, transportation, lunch, extracurriculars, and athletics, all delivered by one provider in one location: the school. Historically, parental choice has been limited to selecting from among different…

Policymakers continue to champion private school voucher programs as a way to improve educational outcomes through increased school choice. For nearly two decades Congress has supported vouchers in Washington, DC, providing federal funds for the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) to allow low-income children to attend private schools in the…

This appendix volume supplements Evaluation Report NCEE 2025-006r, which assessed whether families' expressed interest in and use of scholarships for the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) appears consistent with the goal for program expansion. Appendix A provides additional information about the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), including…

In the 2022-23 school year, Arizona began implementation of a "universal voucher" program through which all school-age students are eligible for a voucher, and families can use public funding to underwrite private or homeschool education for their children. Universal vouchers in Arizona are an expansion of the existing Empowerment…

This study explored the experience of Catholic school principals in Ohio whose schools have participated in the EdChoice Scholarship program. The researcher employed the lens of principal time usage to examine the experiences of Ohio Catholic school principals with EdChoice, with a focus on the direct experiences of principals participating in the…

Pennsylvania has two programs that give tax money to private schools: the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs. Each year, EITC and OSTC provide $230 million to private scholarship organizations, or "SOs," which award tuition vouchers to families whose children attend…

This annual publication of "The ABCs of School Choice" is a comprehensive, data-rich guide to every private school choice program in America. This edition of "The ABCs of School Choice" defines each of the six types of school choice: education savings accounts, tax-credit education savings accounts, school vouchers, tax-credit…

In the past fifty years, governments across the world have experimented with a variety of market-based reforms to improve public service delivery. Market-based policies have been particularly influential in efforts to reform K-12 education governance in the United States. Prominent examples of these reforms include laws establishing public charter…

Opponents of education choice recycle the same false prophesies of doom without regard to the evidence or the size and scope of the proposals. For decades, the most common objection to education choice policies has been that they will "destroy public education." According to the critics, choice policies will induce the parents most…

Market-based policies, especially school vouchers, are expanding rapidly and shifting students out of traditional public schools. This essay broadens, deepens, and updates prior critiques of the free market logic in five ways. First, while prior articles have pointed to some of the conditions necessary for efficient market functioning, I provide a…

This document records testimony from a hearing held to examine the benefits of charter schools for students and families. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Aaron Bean, Chairman, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education; and (2) Honorable Suzanne Bonamici, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early Childhood,…

Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) are government-funded accounts typically established for parents who opt not to enroll their children in public kindergarten through grade 12 (K--12) schools. ESAs allow parents to spend funds that the state would have spent for their student to attend their local public school on a broad array of educational…

Influencing major education policies in the US such as school vouchers and charter schools, market theory assumes that organizational autonomy, parental choice, and competition between schools improve the quality of education. However, whether those policies can influence the instructional core of schools is not well understood. Comparing private…