Archive for September 2017

With support for school choice gaining traction across the United States there is an overwhelming amount of misleading rhetoric from opposition. One of the most alarming myths about school choice is that choice opportunities hurt local public schools. Research has consistently shown that this could not be further from the truth and that public schools…

Mississippi families that choose to enroll their children in private school or that homeschool save the state almost $600 million each year. Last year, Mississippi public school received an average of $9,704 per student when accounting for funding from state, local, and federal governments. When a family opts to not enroll their child in public school,…

Enrollment in a school choice program in Mississippi grew by about 40 percent over the previous year despite the fact that programs were not greatly expanded last year in the legislature. Mississippi currently has four school choice programs available, all enacted within the past five years. This includes public charter schools and three private school…

Yesterday, I attended a public meeting of the Mississippi Charter Authorizer Board in which the group approved a new charter school:  Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School.  This school is the fifth to be authorized in the state, but the first that will open its doors outside of the state’s capital. Clarksdale is located in Coahoma…

No school is perfect.  Every child is unique.  These universal claims have few to contradict them, yet school choice – the idea that parents should have a variety of educational options available and accessible to them – is still a widely contested front. One way states have begun to open their doors to school choice…

When the Mississippi legislature expands school choice options, will existing private schools have room for new students? And do they want to serve additional students? Earlier this year, Empower Mississippi conducted a survey called Exploring Mississippi’s Private Education Sector to answer those questions and more. What Do Private Schools Think About School Choice? Before passage of the…

Education savings accounts are the future of school choice. ESAs increase the learning potential of every child by giving their parents more financial freedom to choose the right learning opportunity for their child. ESAs place state dollars designated for a child’s education in an account for the parents for restricted educational uses. The funds can…