DOCUMENT RESUME ED 460 188 UD 034 633 AUTHOR Moffit, Robert E., Ed.; Garrett, Jennifer J., Ed.; Smith, Janice A., Ed. TITLE School Choice 2001: What's Happening in the States. INSTITUTION Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC. ISBN ISBN-0-89195-100-8 PUB DATE 2001-00-00 NOTE 275p.; For the 2000 report, see ED 440 193. Foreword by Howard Fuller. AVAILABLE FROM Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-4999 ($12.95). Tel: 800-544-4843 (Toll Free). For full text: http://www.heritage.org/schools/. PUB TYPE Books (010) Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Academic Achievement; Charter Schools; Educational Vouchers; Elementary Secondary Education; Private Schools; Public Schools; Scholarship Funds; *School Choice ABSTRACT This publication tracks U.S. school choice efforts, examining research on their results. It includes: current publicschool data on expenditures, schools, and teachers for 2000-01 from a report by the National Education Association; a link to the states'own report cards on how their schools are performing; current private school informationfrom a 2001 report by the National Center for Education Statistics; state rankingson the new Education Freedom Index by the Manhattan Institute in 2000; current National Assessment of Educational Progress test results releasedin 2001; and updates on legislative activity through mid-July 2001. Afterdiscussing ways to increase opportunities for children to succeed, researchon school choice, and public opinion, a set of maps and tables offera snapshot of choice in the states. The bulk of the book containsa state-by-state analysis that examines school choice status; K-12 public schools andstudents; K-12 public school teachers; K-12 public and private school studentacademic performance; background and developments; position of the governor/composition of the state legislature; and statecontacts. An appendix presents national organizations that promote school choice. (Contains approximately 690 endnotes.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document. SCHOOL- CHOICE 00 00 71- r-4 0 WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE STATES U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement Edited by Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D., EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) lifiThis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization Jennifer J. Garrett and Janice A. Smith originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to Foreword by Howard Fuller Improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY BEST COPYAVAILABLE 114.-Aeri-lk3e.:SundaVtori TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES el . INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) GliefitageTowidatiort 4 1 School Choice 2001 What's Happening in the States 0 School Choice 2001 What's Happening in the States Edited by Robert E. Moffitt Ph.D., Jennifer J. Garrett, and Janice A. Smith ge clieritageGFoundatim Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D. is Director of Domestic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Jennifer J. Garrett is a Research Assistant at The Heritage Foundation. Janice A. Smith is Research Department Managing Editor at The Heritage Foundation. Published by The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002-4999 800-544-4843 www.heritage.org Copyright © 2001 The Heritage Foundation ISBN 0-89195-100-8 Front cover design by Mark Hurlburt Photo copyright © 2001 PhotoDisc, Inc. Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress. Table of Contents a- Acknowledgments iv Maryland 97 Foreword Massachusetts 103 Introduction vii Michigan 111 Increasing Opportunities for ix Minnesota 119 0 America's Children to Succeed Mississippi 125 r+ Missouri 127 Snapshots of Choice in the States Montana 133 Map A: School Choice and Charter School Programs: 2001 xxiv Nebraska 135 Table 1: School Choice and Nevada 137 Charter School Programs xxv New Hampshire 141 Map B: Private Scholarship Programs. .. xxvi New Jersey 145 Table 2: Private Scholarship New Mexico 151 Organizations and Programs xxvi New York 157 Table 3: Governor Support of North Carolina 169 State Vouchers and Composition of North Dakota 175 State Legislatures xxix Ohio 177 Table 4: Private Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1999-2000 xxx Oklahoma 185 Oregon 189 State by State Analysis Pennsylvania 193 About the State Profiles xxxiii Rhode Island 201 Alabama 1 South Carolina 203 Alaska 3 South Dakota 207 Arizona 5 Tennessee 209 Arkansas 11 Texas 213 California 15 Utah 221 Colorado 25 Vermont 225 Connecticut 31 Virginia 229 Delaware 35 Washington 235 District of Columbia 39 West Virginia 241 Florida 45 Wisconsin 243 Georgia 53 Wyoming 251 Hawaii 59 Mariana Islands 255 Idaho 63 Puerto Rico 257 Illinois 67 Indiana 73 Glossary Iowa 77 A School Choice Glossary 259 Kansas 81 Appendix Kentucky 85 National Organizations that 261 Louisiana 89 Promote School Choice Maine 93 III For updates go to: www.heritage.org/schools Acknowledgments School Choice 2001: What's Happening in the States owes much to the painstaking work of school choice advocates around the country who invest their time, talent, and resources to improve and expand edu- cational opportunities for America's children. Many of these individuals keep our analysts and research assistants abreast of school choice initiatives and activities in their states. Too many to name, we owe all of our "state contacts" our deepest thanks. But we would be remiss not to give special recognition to those who worked most closely with us on this edition: Judy Alger and State Representative John Alger of New Hampshire, Lewis Andrews of Connecticut, Brian Backstrom of New York, George Clowes of Illinois, Zack Dawes of Texas, Dr. Anne Fox-Clarkson of Idaho, Joni Gardner of Maryland, Mary Gifford of Michigan, Patrick Heffernan of Florida, Frank Heller of Maine, Jeff Judson of Texas, Lisa Keegan of Arizona, Rob Kremer of Oregon, John McClaughry of Vermont, Susan Mitchell of Wisconsin, Rob Natelson of Montana, Senator Kay O'Connor of Kansas, Representative Fern Shuberg of North Carolina, Jim Spady of Washington State, Libby Sternberg of Vermont, Lil Tuttle of Virginia, Nancy Verber of Georgia, and Linda Williams of North Carolina. This annual analysis also relies heavily on the exceptional work of organizations like the Center for Edu- cation Reform, the Friedman Foundation, the Education Commission of the States, and Children First America that dedicate their resources to promote school choice. They analyze legislation and key devel- opments, monitor meetings, distribute fax and e-mail alerts, work with policymakers to craft good laws, and compile excellent state-by-state evaluations and rankings. Over the years, their work has proved to be solid, credible, timely, and extremely important to the public debate about school choice. We greatly value their efforts and sincerely appreciate their direct and indirect contributions to this ongoing proj ect. No product of this magnitude could be accomplished without the efforts of many committed people at The Heritage Foundation. We thank especially Nina Shokraii Rees, former Senior Education Policy Ana- lyst, whose work on previous editions forms the core of this one; Thomas Dawson, Fellow in Educa- tional Affairs, who generously gave his time to assuring that we had the latest and best information on the people and their efforts at the grassroots level; Rea Hederman, Manager of Operations for the Center for Data Analysis, and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., Policy Analyst in the Center for Data Analysis for their assistance on standardized testing; and the former and current domestic policy interns who unfailingly and cheerfully assisted the staff in many ways to update the information herein, Marie Fishpaw, Robert Talerico, and Kathleen Sullivan. We most especially thank the dedicated members of our in-house publishing staff who gave this prod- uct its final polish. Special thanks to Richard Odermatt, Senior Editor, and Michelle Fulton Smith, Senior Design and Layout Specialist, whose many hours of expert attention greatly enhanced its quality; to Anne Gartland, former Design and Layout Specialist, for her unfailingly conscientious assistance; to Harris Byers, Graphic Design Specialist, and Chris Flemming, former Graphic Design Specialist, for their work on the charts and tables; to Mark Hurlburt for the cover design; to Erica Youngman, Publish- ing Services Intern, for helping us to keep to the schedule; to John Dickson, Web Producer, and the other Web producers in the Online Communications department for their work on the Internet-ready version; and to Thomas J. Timmons, Director of Publishing Services, and William Beach, Director of the Center for Data Analysis, for shepherding this project through production. The Editors iv 7 Foreword -n Howard Fuller As we say in the Black Alliance for Educational function with dignity, to exercise influence over a Options (BAEO), children are our most pre- our lives, and in the end to determine for our- cious resource. It is our responsibility to love selves the course of our reality. them, nurture them, and protect them. It is also Access, in a word, means accessible. For our our responsibility to ensure that they are prop- purposes, we must ask whether parental choice erly educated. The mission of BAEO is to enhances accessibility for the children with the actively support parental choice to empower greatest needs. I believe it does. low-income parents to choose the learning envi- ronments that they believe are best for their The issues of equity and access as they relate to children. parental choice must be seen within the frame- work of four critical concepts of the "American School choice, however, is often misunderstood ideal": by well-meaning people or distorted by those who oppose it. The term is often used to mean The mission of education, only vouchers.