New York: More than 1,000 charter school parents rally in Albany to convince the state to let charter schools compete for state funding for pre-K (Fox23 News).

Montana: Lawmakers hear from parents and other child advocates who want their state to open charter schools and support giving families more choices, such as tax credits (Great Falls Tribune). Bills to create a tax credit scholarship program pass out of committees on mostly party line votes (Helena Independent Record). More from the Billings Gazette.

Ohio: Half the students in the state would be eligible for private school vouchers under an expansion proposed by Gov. John Kasich to include all low-income children (ClevelandLeader.com).

Texas: House Speaker Joe Straus warns the Senate that it might not want to go "full bore'' on a school voucher bill, calling it an "exercise in futility'' (Dallas Morning News). Four groups aiming to open charter schools next year turn in applications that have material copied from other applications (Dallas Morning News).

Florida: The Florida House approved a bill that makes it easier for charter schools to grow, but calls for increased accountability (redefinED). The bill also gives charters greater access to district facilities, something one school official said would be a "logistical nightmare" (Palm Beach Post). More from Tallahassee Democrat. Private schools can apply to administer the FCAT, but, so far, only two have (Orlando Sentinel). (more…)

Tennessee: Gov. Bill Haslam proposes a voucher that's limited to low-income students in low-performing schools, with additional state funding for those schools to boot (KnoxNews). More from timesfreepress.com and Nashville Public Radio. Haslam reiterates that his proposal won't affect funding for public schools (Nooga.com). Both supporters and opponents find details to criticize (KnoxNews). Haslam's administration is also backing a bill that would cap enrollment at a virtual charter school run by K12 Inc, reports timesfreepress.com.

Florida: At a National School Choice Week event, new Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett gives some school districts credit for expanding public options such as magnet schools and career academies (redefinED).

Louisiana: The teachers union in New Orleans asks for the names of teachers in the city's charter schools in the hopes of organizing them (The Lens).

Arkansas: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush makes an appearance during National School Choice Week, urging lawmakers to expand charter schools and other choice options and calling education reform both the civil rights and economic issue of our time (Associated Press). More from the Arkansas Press-Gazette.

Virginia: Democratic lawmakers kill a charter school bill and snub their party's national platform in the process (Watchdog.org). More from the Associated Press. A bill to allow home-schoolers to play sports in public schools - a so-called "Tebow" bill - passes the House but must still clear the Senate (Associated Press).

Georgia: The state charter schools commission holds its first meeting since being revived by passage of a constitutional amendment (Atlanta Journal Constitution). More than 1,000 charter school supporters gather to celebrate the amendment's passage (Atlanta Journal Constitution).

South Carolina: State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais says at a National School Choice Week event that he supports a legislative proposal for tax credit scholarships (SCNow.com).

North Carolina: An expansion of charter schools brings debate about quality (Durham Herald Sun).

Mississippi: A bill backed by Gov. Phil Bryant to create a tax credit scholarship program clears the Senate education committee (Associated Press).

Texas: A charter school chief executive testifies in a trial about education funding that low state spending is hurting charters too (San Antonio Express News). The Amarillo school district joins others in supporting an anti-voucher resolution (NewsChannel 10). Gov. Rick Perry backs expansion of charter schools and a proposal for tax credit scholarships (Dallas Morning News). (more…)

Pennsylvania: A budget deal expands the state's existing tax credit scholarship program and creates a new one aimed at helping students in struggling schools. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Washington: Bill Gates chips in $1 million for a ballot initiative to bring charter schools to one of the last states without any. (Associated Press) It appears supporters gathered enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. (Associated Press)

Florida: Former Gov. Jeb Bush endorses a local school board member who openly supports vouchers, tax credit scholarships and other forms of expanded school choice. (Tampa Bay Times) The incoming state House speaker also backs the board member. (Tampa Bay Times)

New Jersey: The state-appointed superintendent in Newark overrules a local advisory board and moves ahead with plans to lease empty buildings to charter schools. (NJ Spotlight)

Louisiana: State Superintendent John White continues to face criticism for his handling of a questionable private school that is seeking to participate in the state's new voucher program. (New Orleans Times Picayune) A state lawmaker now says she regrets voting for the program because she fears it will promote Islam. (Huffington Post)

California: The teachers union at Green Dot charter schools pushes for performance pay and evaluations tied to test scores. (Contra Costa Times)

Tennessee: A charter school operator vows to appeal to the state after a local school board rejects its plan to open charter schools in wealthy West Nashville. (The Tennessean)

Oklahoma: Online learning is growing more popular in Oklahoma, with supporters seeing it as an equalizer between districts that are big and small, rural and urban. (Tulsa World)

(Image from businessweek.com)

New Hampshire: The state legislature overrides Gov. John Lynch's veto of a tax credit scholarship bill. (Manchester Union-Leader)

North Carolina: School choice leaders throw in the towel on a legislative proposal for tax credit scholarships. (Associated Press) A judge rules that a virtual charter school cannot open, siding with the state board of education, which had refused to consider the proposed school's application. (Raleigh News & Observer)

New Jersey: Gov. Chris Christie says it's unlikely that a school voucher bill will move in the state legislature this year. (NJ Spotlight)

Florida: Faced with declining enrollment and increased competition from school choice, the Broward County School Board wants to open its own charter schools. (South Florida Sun Sentinel) Meanwhile, the state Charter School Appeal Commission sides with four of five charter school applications rejected by the Palm Beach County School Board. (Palm Beach Post)

Pennsylvania: A well-funded political action committee and the Philadelphia Archdiocese are pushing hard to expand the state's tax credit scholarship program. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Texas: The state's main charter school group filed suit against the state, charging it with short-changing charters on facilities funding and arbitrarily capping the number of charters that can open. (Houston Chronicle) (more…)

Washington D.C.: The Obama administration relents on funding for the D.C. voucher program and okays a deal that will allow a small expansion. (Washington Post)

New Hampshire: Gov. John Lynch (pictured here) vetoes a legislative proposal for tax credit scholarships, but some expect an override. (Concord Monitor)

Florida: Former Gov. Jeb Bush stresses school choice, accountability and common ground in a speech to Latino officials. (Associated Press)

North Carolina: A legislative proposal for tax credits scholarships has been rolled into a broader education reform bill in the state House. (Associated Press)

Pennsylvania: A proposed state budget would expand the tax credit scholarship program from $75 million to $150 million a year at the same time public school funding levels are kept the same. (Associated Press) The state senate passes a bill that would make it easier for traditional public schools to be converted into charter schools in financially troubled districts. (Bloomberg)

Colorado: Debate arises over the validity of a survey that finds a lack of support for the Douglas County School District's voucher program. (Education News Colorado) (more…)

Arkansas: A federal judge's ruling on the state's school choice law opens the door for legislative action on choice. (Arkansas News)

Maine: Gov. Paul LePage and the newly formed Maine Charter School Commission are at odds over the pace of the commission's work. (Bangor Daily News)

Louisiana: More financial concerns surface about a private school that has drawn an unflattering spotlight to the state's new voucher program. (Monroe News Star) Meanwhile, state education officials are still considering how best to assess private schools that accept voucher students. (New Orleans Times Picayune.) And lawsuits over the voucher program begin to pile up. (Shreveport Times)

Pennsylvania: Lawmakers get set to consider school choice expansion in the form of more tax credit scholarships. (Harrisburg Patriot News) The Pittsburgh schools system is considering its own virtual school to win back students lost to cyber charter schools. (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Michigan: Black students in charter schools outperform their peers in traditional public schools, a study by a charter school support group finds. (MLive.com) (more…)

Stephanie Saul offered an indictment in the New York Times today of tax credit scholarship programs that have, in my opinion, serious design flaws. These flaws were almost guaranteed to provide examples like Saul found for her article. How lawmakers and, just as importantly, parental choice advocates respond is an important test of their credibility.

Not much of what Saul reported is new, though that makes it no less troubling. Georgia’s law sets no boundaries on the income of scholarship recipients and no limit on the amount of the scholarship itself. It requires no financial audits, no attempt at any meaningful data collection. Many of the contributions are steered through schools and parents with a self-interest to underwrite the tuition of their own students. In Georgia and two other states she covered, Pennsylvania and Arizona, the public has little idea whether students are learning because no tests are required and no academic data collected.

The story was loaded with powerful anecdotes of abuse, but employed surprisingly pedestrian journalistic standards in its attempt to portray those practices as national in scope. The punchline in what newspaper writers call the nut graph – that “the programs are a charade” – was qualified as a  question raised by “some” private school administrators. The characterization of programs becoming “enmeshed in politics” was leavened again with the word “some.” How many of the eight states with tax credit scholarship laws “collect little information”? You guessed right. The answer was “some.”

To her credit, Saul did acknowledge that at least one state has different statutory and regulatory standards: “In Florida, where the scholarships are strictly controlled to make sure they go to poor families, only corporations are eligible for the tax credits, eliminating the chance of parents donating for their own benefit. Also, all scholarships are handled by one nonprofit organization, and its fees are limited to 3 percent of donations. Florida also permits the scholarships to move with the students if they elect to change schools.”

The Florida scholarship program, as readers of this blog should be aware, is where the creators of this blog work. So we certainly have a self-interest in seconding such an assessment but also an intimate appreciation of the tension that appropriately exists with education options that have one foot in the private market and the other in the public treasury. We want to give the parents of poor and struggling school children something they could not otherwise afford – a private school learning option – and we recognize that with tax-credited funding comes public responsibility.

Finding the right balance between regulation and market is no simple feat. But our prescriptions for a well-designed law are as follows: (more…)