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Legislation was introduced on June 15 proposing to repeal the Blaine Amendment in the New York State constitution. Enacted by many states in the nineteenth century, the Blaine amendment prohibits the allocation of public money to religious schools. The proposed legislation would clear the way for vouchers for religious schools.

"The concentration of adult-supported students in charter schools and voucher-funded private schools will virtually ensure their success - and enable advocates of these alternative schools to tout their superiority. On this path, we will, indeed, end up with two school systems."

"Milwaukee's voucher system, which allows low-income students to attend private schools using tax dollars, discriminates based on disability, according to a complaint filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation and Disability Rights Wisconsin."

The school voucher debate is shifting, in part, a new study released today concludes, because participating students' test scores are not.

This week, a Denver District court temporarily halted Douglas County's attempt to use vouchers to divert already-depleted public school resources into private schools. In the decision, the judge derided "The prospect of having millions of dollars of public school funding diverted to private schools, many of which are religious and lie outside of the Douglas County School District."

Jacksonville public education advocate and freelance writer Julie Delegal has the lead letter today in the Florida Times Union. Delegal provides the numbers on what Florida's two voucher system cost taxpayers and ultimately take from public schools.

Pennsylvania School Boards Association site on tuition vouchers.

The Pennsylvania legislature is working on a "school choice" bill-meaning school vouchers and expanded charter schools. Rachel Tabachnik has detailed the network of Betsy DeVos-funded think tanks and PACs that are pushing privatization. But no move to undermine public education that works for all kids would be complete without Michelle Rhee, and Karoli at Crooks and Liars details how Rhee's StudentsFirst has been involved. After a string of Rhee appearances with voucher supporters and at DeVos-funded events, StudentsFirst has hired a lobbyist with some hardcore Republican credentials

"State Education Secretary Ron Tomalis said Monday he is pushing to enact school tuition voucher legislation before state lawmakers breaks for their summer recess, joining the governor and special interest groups calling for immediate education reforms."

"The Southern Education Foundation has created an excellent info graphic about the dangers of vouchers and ta mx credits-public funding of private schools. It is worth your while to watch it."

"With news of the Indiana Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in favor of that state's expansive voucher program - one in which interested families send their children to private schools with public dollars - it's only a matter of time before more states follow suit and widen a central front in the ongoing battle to expand our national experiment in school choice. In the end, is this a good or a bad development for American families? And will it help or hinder our ongoing efforts to guarantee every child a high-quality public education?"

Three recent reports on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project at the University of Arkansas use largely sound methods, but the data they assemble provide little to support the 22-year-old school voucher program. Those are the conclusions of three separate reviews released today of the reports.

Over the past three years, more than $75 million in federal education funding has been diverted to just a handful of private, pro-voucher advocacy groups. This torrent of public funding appears to benefit and strengthen the advocacy infrastructure created by a network of right-wing foundations dedicated to the privatization of public education.  

As the number of private school voucher and scholarship programs for students with disabilities across the country grow, meeting a variety of challenges along the way, one lawmaker in Florida is taking a hard look at that state's program.

An Indiana judge has upheld the state's ambitious new voucher law, saying it meets the standards of the state's constitution, despite objections about it directing money to religious schools. Superior Court Judge Michael Keele found that whether students choose to use public money to attend sectarian institutions is ultimately "immaterial," because familes are exercising their choice to do so.

Gov. Bobby Jindal and his allies on education reform are considering an unprecedented, statewide expansion of private school vouchers and steps to more closely link teachers' job security with performance, according to two officials who have consulted with the governor's office on proposals for this year's session at the Louisiana Legislature.

As the 3,919 students who participated in the first year of Indiana's new, wide-reaching school voucher program near the end of the first semester in their new schools, the program faces up to its next challenge: A state court hearing opens today on a lawsuit arguing the program violates Indiana's constitution.

If there ever was an online bastion for right-of-center Democrats, it's Huffington Post. Their education reporting is abysmal in terms of both editorial content and policy advocacy. Their choice of bloggers heavily favors privatization minded charter-voucher swindlers. With a few notable exceptions, including Dr. John Thompson and Larry Ferlazzo, Huffington Post functions as shills for charters, vouchers, and other Freidman fantasies for converting the commons to commerce.

Earlier this month, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal unveiled a broad series of education proposals, which included an expansion of private school vouchers in his state and overhauling how teachers are evaluated and compensated. "This is a bold plan and a signal to teachers-at all career stages-that help is on the way," the Republican said. Leaders of the state's teachers' unions, however, don't see it that way.

"Louisiana's education chief has refused to provide records from the deliberations over how schools were chosen to participate in Gov. Bobby Jindal's new statewide voucher program, which is using tax dollars to send students to private and parochial schools. The Department of Education isn't claiming an exemption in public records law in denying the June 12 request from The Associated Press and delaying any production of the internal documents for at least several more weeks. Instead, the department is claiming "a deliberative process privilege" cited in two court rulings that have nothing to do with education issues, but involve legal battles over what records should be available to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's Office."