New Orleans School Choice

Suburban Schools Do Not Want Inner City Students

"The basic story is that initially, the suburbs were not interested in participating in open enrollment competition for students. One superintendent, when I asked him why his district didn’t participate, replied “I think the feeling around here is that we’ve got a pretty good thing going, and we want to keep the unwashed masses out.”"

- Matthew Ladner

Choice Begets Choice

"When Florida passed a law in 2001 creating the Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program for underprivileged students, all but one Democrat in the state legislature voted against it. Earlier this month, lawmakers extended the program – this time with the help of a full third of Democrats in the Legislature."

-Wall Street Journal

Milwaukee Parental Choice Program Facts

Milwaukee's Parental Choice Program is the:

1. Oldest: "the nation’s longest running school choice program"
2. Fastest Growing: Wisconsin made 7,500 students and $45,000,000 more dollars available for the Choice Program, a larger increase in school choice than by any other legislator in 2006.

Source: The Alliance For School Choice

School-Choice Strategy

As explained in the Wall Street Journal, supporting universal school choice is superior to supporting means-tested school choice for two main reasons:

Limited choice plans draw the same amount of opposition as broad choice plans.
Broader choice plans equals broader support.

Therefore since you are going to receive the same amount of opposition from the teacher unions whether the choice plan is limited or broad, then you might as well as go for the broad choice plan.