Giving Compass' Take:

· According to Education Next, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has announced the creation of a nationwide tax credit scholarship program, potentially expanding school choice. 

· How has school choice shown to affect students' academic success? Should school choice be a universally given option? In what ways can donors support funding efforts for universal school choice? 

· Learn more about school choice funding programs and tax credit scholarships. 

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, along with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), announced Thursday a bill to create a nationwide tax credit scholarship program that could expand school choice.

Tax credit scholarship programs are already used in 18 states to provide students with the opportunity to attend schools other than their nearest public school. These programs allow people and corporations to donate to a designated scholarship granting organization (SGO) and be reimbursed in the form of a tax credit. In Cruz and Byrne’s plan, states would designate the eligible SGOs, but the federal government would fund the tax credit reimbursement, up to $5 billion total.

Currently, tax credit scholarships are used primarily to allow students, often from low-income families, to attend tuition-charging private schools. The new Education Freedom Scholarships proposal would allow state-selected SGOs to provide the scholarships for any program designed to increase students’ opportunities through school choice. These programs could be private school scholarships, but they could also be supplemental tutoring, career and technical education, or transportation.

In light of the announcement, we offer four important takeaways from our research on school choice for policymakers considering the program.

  1. Recent research on private school choice programs shows limited effects on achievement but positive effects on college enrollment.
  2. Geography matters.
  3. Transportation can be a barrier to choice.
  4. School choice policies might work against desegregation efforts.

Read the full article about tax credit scholarships for school choice by Kristin Blagg, Matthew M. Chingos, Tomas Monarrez and Alexandra Tilsley at Education Next.