As the 3,919 students who participated in the first year of Indiana's new, wide-reaching school voucher program near the end of the first semester in their new schools, the program faces its next challenge: A state court hearing opened on Dec. 19 on a lawsuit arguing the program violates Indiana's constitution. The Choice Scholarship program, one…

As the governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, Mitt Romney championed aggressive education policies later embraced by the Obama administration and by other states. But for most of his second run at the Republican presidential nomination, voters have heard little about his education record in Massachusetts or initiatives that Mr. Romney was…

The ACE Mentor Program provides early career exposure, mentoring, and scholarships to high school students in an attempt to encourage them to enter one of the three fields that make up the ACE acronym: (1) architecture; (2) construction; and (3) engineering. Founded in 1993 by longtime engineering consultant Charles Thornton, the program is…

To give students an incentive to work hard--and save education dollars along the way--some states are encouraging early high school graduation by ramping up curricula or giving college scholarships. As a money-saving measure for families and states, lawmakers are allowing early high school exits and providing tuition aid. The policies emphasize…

This article reports that amid tight budgets and shrinking revenue, states are wagering that voters in next month's elections will agree to expand state-sanctioned gambling in exchange for increased school aid. Initiatives on six state ballots Nov. 4 involve gambling revenue intended to raise money for everything from community college funding and…

Few strategies for luring more students and working adults into math and science teaching have proved as popular among elected officials as financial incentives, which try to make one of the least appealing aspects of the job--low pay--a little less daunting. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are considering a number of bills that would expand existing…

This article features Brownsville Independent School District which was awarded the prestigious 2008 Broad Prize for Urban Education for being the nation's most improved urban school district. The Texas border district sees teacher training and data-based instruction as paths to learning gains--and the $1 million Broad award adds validation. In…

The author discusses different state proposals to offer more-competitive salaries for teachers. A 2005 review by the Education Commission of the States found that at least 30 states offer such incentives--which can include housing benefits, loan forgiveness, and scholarships, as well as yearly bonuses and salary increases--to address teacher…

This article describes the Buffalo Prep program. Housed at University of Buffalo, the program identifies disadvantaged but talented minority children, places them in academic-enrichment classes, and then finds them spots at private schools and a more selective public high school in the area to complete their precollegiate careers. In addition to…

The debate over a school choice bill in the Missouri legislature has opened a bitter rift among some of the state's top Black elected officials and reflects a larger divide among African-Americans over school choice nationwide. The bill, which is similar to programs that are growing in popularity in other states, would provide tax credits for…

Improving K-12 instruction and student achievement in mathematics and science is at the heart of separate bills intended to bolster America's economic standing that won overwhelming approval in both houses of Congress last week. The House on April 24 approved the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act by a vote of…

Florida's voucher program for students in the lowest-rated public schools is unconstitutional, the state supreme court ruled early January 2006 in a 5-2 decision that friends and foes of private school choice are scrutinizing for its potential impact on voucher debates nationwide. Chief Justice Barbara J. Pariente of the Florida Supreme Court…

Florida's Opportunity Scholarships faced their most crucial test in June 2005, as the state supreme court heard arguments in a case about the constitutionality of the voucher program. In more than an hour of oral arguments in "Bush v. Holmes," held June 7, in Tallahassee and shown live on the Internet, lawyers sparred over the…

This article reports on a nationally-watched case by educators and families which is scheduled to be heard by the Florida Supreme Court. The court is to decide whether Opportunity Scholarships, available to students enrolled in Florida's persistently lowest-rated public schools, run afoul of a prohibition on using public money in religious…

This article reports the 7-2 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a Washington state scholarship program that denies aid to theology majors. Disappointing proponents of tuition aid for students in religious schools, the court held that Washington state was well within its rights to exclude students' training for the ministry from its Promise…