2015 ABCs of School Choice (Friedman Foundation Symposium/Preview)

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

Fourth year in a row

that we see at least two

or more new programs

enacted.

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

We’ve seen large

participation growth in

choice programs

since 2010-11.

Tax-credit scholarship

programs have relatively

larger populations of

eligible children to serve.

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%)

Voucher programs show

higher participation rates

and average levels of

student funding.

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.

What are some general

features of current

programs in the U.S.?

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”)

2015 ABCs of School Choiceto release next week

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