School Choice Clips for Wednesday, July 9, 2025
How Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' will impact K-12 education
Fox News: Joshua Q. Nelson: How Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' will impact K-12 education
https://www.foxnews.com/media/how-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-impact-k-12-education
President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" will have a huge impact on education in the country, considered "the biggest piece of legislation that's ever passed in school choice history" by establishing a federal tax-credit scholarship program.
American Federation for Children President Tommy Schultz told Fox News Digital that he has been working on the legislation for 10 years.
"Every state essentially will have the opportunity to potentially have school choice thanks to this tax-credit scholarship, which will allow any individual in America to donate $1,700 to a local scholarship group, and they can get a full 100% tax-credit, dollar-for-dollar tax-credit. And at the end of the day, this could help millions of families get access to the school of their choice," Schultz said.
"Tax credits are a funding mechanism for private school choice programs. Whereas in the states, you have scholarship programs – those are direct appropriations from the state government coffers," Schultz said.
Schultz added that the federal tax-credit scholarship program allows taxpayers to reduce their tax bill, the same type of mechanism on the state level.
"This one in particular allows individuals to invest in K through 12 educational opportunities for kids and particularly lower-income kids. This is just an unmitigated win for the school choice movement and for families all across the country," Schultz said.
National:
Jewish News Syndicate: Vita Fellig: ‘Didn’t give up’: Jewish advocate reflects on effort to save school choice bill
https://www.jns.org/didnt-give-up-jewish-advocate-reflects-on-effort-to-save-school-choice-bill/
“This absolutely would not have happened without working very closely with a group of advocates from different faiths, from different backgrounds, with different beliefs, and Senate champions who did not take no for an answer, and even at the last moment, when it seemed like all hope was lost, didn’t give up,” he said. Achieving the necessary adjustments to the bill wasn’t the effort of just one lawmaker, according to Motzen. He said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) “played a key role, but none of this would’ve been possible without the Senate leadership prioritizing the issue. They could’ve moved on, but instead, they stepped in to fix it and ensure it was included.”
The Lion: Adam Wittenberg: New report: homeschooling is growing and becoming more diverse
https://readlion.com/new-report-homeschooling-is-growing-and-becoming-more-diverse/
A new report highlights both the expansion of homeschooling since the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing diversity of families participating in it. “Homeschool participation has grown dramatically in recent years and appears to be on a new upward trend,” write authors Angela Watson and Matthew Lee, who studied a national sample of 3,200 homeschool families. “This growth will likely lead to the continued population diversification and new innovations in how ‘homeschooling’ is defined and delivered.”
Florida:
The Palm Beach Post: Kelly Garcia: Florida is finally clearing the way for more charter schools
The new Florida bill serves as a model that ensures more public school students and parents have a way out of schools that have failed them. Breaking down barriers to innovation, opening the free market and providing options for the most vulnerable: this is what education freedom means, and what students deserve.
Idaho:
Idaho Ed News: Katie McGuire: School Choice: An ongoing journey for one Idaho family
https://www.idahoednews.org/top-news/school-choice-an-ongoing-journey-for-one-idaho-family/
Mong’s journey illustrates a different type of school choice: One where parents constantly reassess what their child might need, and make changes when necessary. “Not every school is the right fit for every child,” Mong explained. “Don’t feel like you’re stuck. I thought once I picked the school for my son, ‘we’re here till 12th grade,’ and, at first, I felt like such a failure when I wasn’t. But it was okay. We are growing, we are learning, we are adapting.”
North Carolina:
News & Observer: Sophia Bailly: NC enrollment data show shift away from traditional public schools [Paywall]
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article310262835.html
An N&O analysis of new state enrollment figures released last week shows 25.1% of the state’s 1.8 million students attended a private school, charter school or were homeschooled for the 2024-25 school year. The percentage of students attending the state’s 115 school districts had dropped from 86.5% in 2010 to 74.9% in 2025. The shift over the last 15 years coincides with major legislative changes such as creation of the Opportunity Scholarship program and elimination of the state cap on the number of charter schools.
West Virginia:
The Preston County News & Journal: Charles Young: West Virginia's Hope Scholarship enrollment grows nearly 40% for 2025-26 School Year
Enrollment in the Hope Scholarship program has grown by almost 40% since last year, according to state Treasurer Larry Pack. Nearly 15,000 students will receive full funding from the Hope Scholarship program for the 2025-26 school year, up from the 10,750 students who received some level of funding the previous year. The Hope Scholarship Program is an education savings account program that allows eligible parents to spend state funding on educational expenses like private school tuition or tutoring.
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