ERIC Number: ED457580
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1999-Jul
Pages: 8
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
School Choice Today.
DeSchryver, Dave
With the increasing demand for better schools, states and communities are providing more options to families. By doing so, they are not only improving educational opportunity for those children, but also having a dramatic impact on how schools operate in their communities. The most important options are full school-choice programs, charter schools, and private scholarship programs. State lawmakers are addressing education reform with new interest because of evidence of the success that these programs can generate, particularly for disadvantaged children. School choice is a freedom that is gaining national favor. Strong disapproval has been found for the current condition of education and, as a result, support for school choice has strengthened. Seventy-eight percent of those polled do not believe that children, especially in inner cities, are receiving the education they need. This is especially true among black respondents, of whom 85 percent feel this way. Better than 80 percent of all adults support school choice, regardless of the respondents' race. Specifically, 82 percent of adults support offering parents a choice in where their children attend school; 66 percent favor a legislative choice policy; and 72 percent support allowing poor parents to use tax dollars to send their children to the school of their choice. This report details findings across the country concerning growing support for school-choice programs in New York, Arizona, Florida, Vermont, Maine, as well as in cities such as Cleveland and Milwaukee. However, school-choice opponents in those cities filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the programs violate the constitutional separation of church and state. Tax credits and/or deductions are discussed for Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. (DFR)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Accountability, Black Students, Charter Schools, Educational Change, Educational Vouchers, Elementary Secondary Education, Equal Education, Hispanic Americans, Parochial Schools, Public Schools, Scholarships, School Choice, Tuition
Center for Education Reform, 1001 Connecticut Ave., NW, Ste. 204, Washington, DC 20036 ($2). Tel: 800-521-2118 (Toll Free); Fax: 202-822-5077; Web site: http://edreform.com/.
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Center for Education Reform, Washington, DC.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A