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
