The Legal Landscape of Parental Choice Policy

Abstract

The number of students participating in private-school-choice programs in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years (to over 350,000 during the 2014-15 school year). At present, more than half of states have at least one private-school-choice program. In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the federal constitutional path to this expansion of private-school choice by holding that the Establishment Clause does not preclude states from government funds to enable students to attend private schools. Nevertheless, private-school-choice programs raise a number of other legal issues. This paper addresses several of the most significant.

Keywords: parental choice, school choice, education

JEL Classification: K39