Latest School choice News

Extra private school voucher funding gets initial OK from North Carolina Senate

Sep. 09, 2024 15:17 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Senate took the first step in clearing the state's waitlist for private school vouchers Monday after passing a supplemental spending plan that also includes more Medicaid money, rural broadband access and requirements for sheriffs to assist federal...

North Carolina GOP leaders reach spending deal to clear private school voucher waitlist

Sep. 06, 2024 16:20 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's Republican House and Senate leaders said Friday that they have agreed with each other on a supplemental spending proposal that includes hundreds of millions of dollars to eliminate the state's waitlist for private school vouchers. The new...

School choice and a history of segregation collide as one Florida county shutters its rural schools

Aug. 22, 2024 00:10 AM EDT

MADISON, Fla. (AP) — Tens of thousands of students have left Florida’s public schools in recent years amid an explosive expansion in school choice. Now, districts large and small are grappling with the harsh financial realities of empty seats in aging classrooms. As some...

Millions of campaign dollars aimed at tilting school voucher battle are flowing into state races

Aug. 13, 2024 00:08 AM EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Millions of dollars are being spent this year to steer voters toward candidates for Republican-led Legislatures who not only support school vouchers, but will become key figures in implementing school choice programs in states across the U.S. Most recently,...

Some Democratic backers of Josh Shapiro see a missed chance for a Jewish vice president

Aug. 06, 2024 18:37 PM EDT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate disappointed fans of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was one of Harris’ finalists for the job and seen as someone who could help Democrats win a key swing state and make history by...

Kentucky's premier political event features debate over school choice measure on November ballot

Aug. 05, 2024 12:03 PM EDT

Two Kentucky lawmakers met in a high-stakes debate over whether taxpayer money should be allowed to go to private schools, laying out the stakes for a charged issue that voters will decide in November. Democratic state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson denounced the proposed constitutional...

Families rally to urge North Carolina lawmakers to fully fund private-school vouchers

Jul. 31, 2024 14:16 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Dozens of North Carolina parents held a rally on Wednesday to urge Republican legislators to fully fund scholarships for children to attend private and religious schools after lawmakers failed to work out an agreement earlier this year to meet the program's soaring demand. ...

Ample signatures collected for referendum to repeal private school funding law, organizers say

Jul. 17, 2024 14:07 PM EDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Public school advocates say they have enough signatures to ask Nebraska voters in November to repeal a law that provides taxpayer money for private school tuition, marking the latest twist in a long-running fight with state lawmakers who have repeatedly opposed efforts to let...

Hawaii DOE Still Doesn’t Have A Plan For How To Spend Farm-To-School Funds

Jul. 16, 2024 13:14 PM EDT

More than a year after the Hawaii Department of Education sparked ire by instructing schools not to apply for funding from a $650,000 federal food grant it had helped secure, the agency has yet to produce a clear plan for how it will use the grant before it expires. The U.S....

The GOP platform calls for 'universal school choice.' What would that mean for students?

Jul. 11, 2024 16:49 PM EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — National Republicans are poised to support “universal school choice” as part of the policy platform they adopt at next week’s convention in Milwaukee, a goal supporters see as the culmination of decades advocating for parents’ autonomy to pick their children’s...