1. School Choice Round-Up
2. School Choice in Sweden
3. School Choice Around the Country
4. School Choice in Arizona
5. School Choice in Vermont’s Tuition Towns

SCHOOL CHOICE ROUND-UP

The legislative session is over, the campaigning has begun. While candidates roam the countryside making their case for elected office, VBE would like to take a few moments to explore an education policy that has been too long delayed in the Green Mountain State: school choice.

Currently, anyone may choose a school – the US Supreme Court ruled in 1925 you can’t force kids into public schools – but only those with the financial means get to exercise that choice. School choice programs allow parents to choose schools with no financial penalty.

Ironically, Vermont’s legislature at one time did have the wisdom to pass expansive school choice legislation. A century and a half ago, the first tuition town statutes were passed into Title 16, Vermont’s education law. In tuition towns, parents get to choose from public and private (non-religious) schools. 

Beyond that, little else has been done to open the door to choice. Vermont is one of ONLY TEN states in the country that have no charter school laws on the books. And outside of a weak and extremely modest public high school choice law, options are slim for Vermont parents of limited financial means. 

What is it like elsewhere? What kinds of programs can be devised to help take the financial sting out of choosing a school?  In this issue, we’ll look briefly at a program in Sweden, several in Arizona, and in tuition towns in the Green Mountain State.

Article 26 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights states:

“Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”

Many countries do not even place restrictions on public funding for independent schools, even if they are religiously affiliated. In fact, this public funding can often flow directly to independent schools in the form of grants. 

One of the most permissive countries in the Western World in terms of allowing parents to choose schools for their children is the politically and socially progressive country Sweden.

 In the 1990s, Sweden began a series of educational reforms that had the effect of decentralizing a hitherto very centralized system. Local municipalities were given more authority over their schools while at the same time being directed to provide funding for independent schools. Thus, the financial playing field was leveled between private and public schools. Parents could choose which school was right for their children whether it was public or private. 

Schools that receive public funding do have to abide by certain rules—they have to meet certain educational standards and they cannot discriminate against children because of ability, race or ethnicity. If the schools accept the public funding, they cannot charge tuition. 

Among the schools receiving approval for public funding have been schools owned by teacher or parent co-operatives, non-profit organizations and private firms. Independent school enrollment has quadrupled as a result of the reforms, leading to a thriving multi-dimensional school environment. The two main teacher “trade unions” in Sweden on the whole do not oppose the school choice reforms. A municipal employees group that polled teachers who left the local public schools to teach in independent ones found that a full 70 percent liked working in the independent schools more, even though a good 50 percent of those surveyed said the pace of work was “faster.” Teachers who’d switched to independent schools said they had “more control” over their work.

To find out more about Sweden's choice programs check out the booklet called “School Choice Works! A Case for Sweden”  The authors, both of whom lived and worked in Sweden, summarize the school choice policies and their effects in Sweden. 
 

As noted above, Vermont is now one of a dwindling number of states that does not have charter schools. These quasi-public schools accept students from outside their district and receive their funding through public money following the child to their doors (and sometimes, public grants as well). 

The Center for Education Reform has compiled a chart on charter school laws and school choice in the states. It is pasted below. CER gives each state a grade, A through F, for their charter school law. The grades are based on dozens of criteria including having multiple charter school authorizers; the limits placed on the number of schools allowed; funding that follows the students to whatever schools they attend, the ability for charters to operate without burdensome controls; and freedom from local collective bargaining obligations.
 

** public = states that have enacted open enrollment laws, *indicates states that offer open enrollment but districts are not required to participate; public-private = publically funded voucher law including public, private, and parochial schools; public-secular = publically-funded voucher law that does not include parochial schools.

Source: Education in America: State-by-State Scorecard

The Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation has done an excellent round-up of the types of school choice programs in the states. Here’s what’s available in one state, Arizona, with links to more comprehensive information:

AZ Corporate Tax Credits for School Tuition Organizations

Arizona provides a credit on corporate income taxes for donations to School Tuition Organizations (STOs), privately run non-profit organizations that support private-school scholarships. This program is modeled after Arizona’s existing personal tax credit for donations to STOs, and the two programs work in tandem. All organizations registered as STOs may participate in both programs. Corporate taxpayers contributing to STOs may claim a tax credit equal to the full amount of their contribution. In 2006 a total of 17 STOs participated in the program.

AZ Displaced Pupils Choice Grants

Starting in spring 2007, Arizona provides vouchers to foster care students, allowing them to attend the private school of their choice.

AZ   Personal Tax Credits for School Tuition Organizations

Arizona provides a credit on personal income taxes for donations to School Tuition Organizations (STOs), privately run non-profit organizations that support private-school scholarships. Individual taxpayers contributing to STOs may claim a dollar-for-dollar credit of up to $500, and married couples filing jointly may claim up to $1,000. Also, up to $200 may be claimed for contributing to a public school for extracurricular activities or character education programs. Any non-profit that wants to operate as an STO may do so; there were 53 STOs in 2004-05. Starting in 2007, this program will work in tandem with Arizona’s newly enacted corporate tax credit for donations to STOs.

AZ   Scholarships for Pupils with Disabilities

Arizona provides vouchers to special-education students in public schools, allowing them to attend the public or private school of their choice. After students get admitted to private schools, they apply to the state for a voucher.

Vermont’s most comprehensive school choice program is found in its approximately 90 tuition towns. These towns are so small that they lack a public high school. Sometimes they have no public school whatsoever at any level. Parents can therefore have their children “tuitioned” to the public or private nonreligious school of their choice in the case of high schools and public schools for the lower grades.

Sometimes tuition towns will “designate” a school which, in effect, takes choice away from parents. When a school is designated for the town, that’s the only school where parents can send their children without paying tuition.

For 140 years the tuition system has been in effect. Towns handle transportation issues in a variety of ways. Some towns reimburse parents for transportation costs. Some pay for buses to public schools. Some of the receiving schools, both public and private, themselves operate buses to pick up students from tuition towns.

For a full list of Vermont’s tuition towns, click on this link (pdf).

IN UPCOMING ISSUES: A look at school choice in the Netherlands, in the District of Columbia and more….

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