Parental School Choice

The Alliance for School Choice recently released their annual School Choice Yearbook, a comprehensive guide to school choice programs throughout the United States.

2011 was a significant year for the expansion of school choice across the country. Seven new programs were created and 11 existing ones were expanded.

North Carolina parents have much to celebrate in the area of expanded educational options for their children. In 2011, North Carolina eliminated the public charter school cap, along with creating a tax credit for children with disabilities - the state's first K-12 law where private education is an option. These education reform successes will positively impact thousands of children across our state.

A few years ago, Patricia Siroky wanted to send her youngest daughter to private school, but couldn't afford it.

 Thousands of supporters across New Jersey ralled at that state's capitol recently for legislators to support the Opportunity Scholarship Act, which would allow low-income and working class children from the state's lowest performing school districts to receive scholarships to attend private school.

As the end of the year quickly approaches, lawmakers are attempting to create more educational opportunities for low-income and working class children through business tax credit scholarship programs.

These programs allow businesses to make tax-deductable donations to scholarship granting organizations, who in turn provide scholarships for low-income and working class children to attend private schools. Efforts to create or expand these programs are currently taking place in states that include New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

If you haven't seen it already, take a look at the video below, which highlights PEFNC's visit to Scotland Neck in October to explain the benefits of community-supported public charter schools to residents and alumni of a defunct high school. 

The state Department of Public Instruction announced today that the deadline for regular applications to start a public charter school has been extended from February to April.

No exact date has been given as of yet.

Applications for the fast tracking process - those who can demonstrate the ability to open a public charter school by August 2012 - are still due by Thursday, November 10, 2011 at noon.

2011 has already been dubbed the "year of school choice" thanks to a number of successful parental school choice efforts across the country, including North Carolina eliminating its public charter school cap and creating a tax credit for families of children with disabilities.