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In Search of Opportunity: Can Families Use Education Choice to Secure More of What They Want?

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Bibliographic Details
Title: In Search of Opportunity: Can Families Use Education Choice to Secure More of What They Want?
Language: English
Authors: Ashley Jochim, Arizona State University (ASU), Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE)
Source: Center on Reinventing Public Education. 2024.
Availability: Center on Reinventing Public Education. Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University. H.B. Farmer Education Building, 1050 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281. e-mail: crpe@uw.edu; Web site: https://crpe.org/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 37
Publication Date: 2024
Intended Audience: Policymakers
Document Type: Reports - Research
Descriptors: School Choice, Private School Aid, Educational Vouchers, Parent Attitudes, Program Effectiveness, Program Validation, Access to Education, Barriers
Abstract: The education landscape is rapidly evolving as state policymakers enact and significantly expand private education choice initiatives. These initiatives, currently operating in 29 states and counting, provide public dollars directly to families to support approved educational purchases, including, but not always limited to, private school tuition. Families made choices about education before policymakers advanced initiatives that sought to increase opportunities to do so, and they will continue to make choices even if those policies go away, which seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. Given that choice has been and will continue to be firmly rooted in the public education system, it is incumbent on policymakers and those that influence them to take stock of families' experiences and address the obstacles they confront along the way. This report provides an up-to-date account of families' experiences in education choice programs. Existing evidence makes clear that while education choice can be life-changing for families who find success with it, this outcome is far from guaranteed. Information gaps, competitive admissions, and weaknesses in the supply of educational alternatives constrain what families can secure from the marketplace. These constraints affect all families--rich and poor, rural, suburban and urban, white and nonwhite, immigrant and native born.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: ED662682
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:The education landscape is rapidly evolving as state policymakers enact and significantly expand private education choice initiatives. These initiatives, currently operating in 29 states and counting, provide public dollars directly to families to support approved educational purchases, including, but not always limited to, private school tuition. Families made choices about education before policymakers advanced initiatives that sought to increase opportunities to do so, and they will continue to make choices even if those policies go away, which seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. Given that choice has been and will continue to be firmly rooted in the public education system, it is incumbent on policymakers and those that influence them to take stock of families' experiences and address the obstacles they confront along the way. This report provides an up-to-date account of families' experiences in education choice programs. Existing evidence makes clear that while education choice can be life-changing for families who find success with it, this outcome is far from guaranteed. Information gaps, competitive admissions, and weaknesses in the supply of educational alternatives constrain what families can secure from the marketplace. These constraints affect all families--rich and poor, rural, suburban and urban, white and nonwhite, immigrant and native born.