Charter Schools - Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The �charter� establishing each such school is a performance contract detailing the school's mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. The length of time for which charters are granted varies, but most are granted for 3-5 years.
Child-Centered Funding - An education-financing plan that allows a specific dollar amount, representing both operations and capital funding costs, to follow each student to the school chosen by his or her parents.
Controlled Choice - A program that provides parental choice while promoting racial integration. Generally, parents are allowed to choose a school within a specified zone. Racial quotas regulate student admittance.
Dual Enrollment - Programs that allow students to enroll in courses at institutions of higher education for secondary and/or postsecondary credit. Depending on state and local policy, the student, the state, or the district pays for the courses.
Education Savings Accounts - Accounts that are largely free from taxation and for used toward K�16 educational expenses.
Home Schooling �The practice by which parents serve as their children's teachers and the home serves as the school. Home schooling is an educational choice made today by the parents of an estimated 1.6 million to 2 million children, a number which continues to grow significantly each year.
Innovations in Traditional Public Schools � Various innovations geared toward improving on the way these public school systems are organized, managed and delivered. More specifically, there are innovations in instructional techniques - such as the use of new technologies in the classroom � as well as innovations in the way teachers are recruited, prepared and compensated. Such innovations include magnet schools, alternative schools, interdistrict/intradistrict transfer programs, open enrollment programs and post-secondary enrollment options.
Interdistrict Choice - Parental freedom to send students to public schools outside the district of residence. In some states, the policy is voluntary, and districts may or may not participate. In others, interdistrict choice is mandatory, and all districts must allow transfers.
Intradistrict Choice - Parental freedom to choose from schools within the district of residence. In some states, districts set transfer policies. In others, intradistrict choice is mandatory.
Magnet Schools - Public schools offering programs to students with particular interests - such as the arts or technology. Often used as a voluntary method to achieve racial balance.
Open Enrollment - Policy that allows parents to choose from any school in their state. With voluntary open enrollment, the district is not required to offer a choice. With mandatory open enrollment, the district must allow parents this option.
Privately Financed Scholarships � Payments a private organization makes to a parent or an institution on a parent�s behalf, to be used for a child�s education expenses. Parents in a number of cities and states have access to privately financed programs that support school choice by offering students full or partial scholarships.
Publicly Funded Private School Choice - Choice programs that include publicly funded scholarships to be applied toward tuition fees at a private or religious school.
Public School Choice - Systems that allow parents to choose from among different public schools
Public School Contracts with Private Organizations � For many years, school districts have contracted for non-educational services ranging from meals or maintenance to transportation, labor negotiations or data processing. Today a growing number of school districts are expanding those contracts to include education services. In some cases, school districts are turning to private entities to manage individual schools and even entire districts.
Scholarships - Certificates of a designated dollar value that are applied toward tuition and/or fees at a public or private school. Also called vouchers, tuition scholarships, or opportunity scholarships. Supplementary Education Programs - Supplemental Education Programs provide additional academic services to students who are in low-performing schools. These services may include tutoring, remediation, or other educational interventions and are usually provided after the school day, on weekends or during the summer. However, the services can be provided during the regular school day. Supplemental educational services also must be high quality, research-based, and specifically designed to increase student academic achievement.
Tax Credits Benefiting Low-income Families � Educational tax credits are a direct reduction in taxes that fully or partially refund expenditures made by parents or others for educational expenses such as tutoring, books, computers, and in some states, private school tuition. State legislation determines the amount of credit and which educational expenses qualify. In some states, families with no tax liability can receive a refund for some, or all, of the amount spent.
Tax-supported Scholarships for Low-income Families (Vouchers) � These are payments the government makes to a parent or on a parent�s behalf, to be used for a child�s education expenses. In Milwaukee, Cleveland and Florida, for example, government funds support scholarships for needy students who wish to attend private schools.
Tuitioning Programs - Programs under which school districts or towns without public schools pay for the cost of sending students to private or public schools in another district or state. Maine and Vermont are the only states that have tuitioning laws.
Vouchers (Scholarships) - Certificates with a designated dollar value that may be applied toward tuition or fees at a public or private educational institution of choice. Vouchers are similar to the federal government�s Pell Grant program, under which a student receives a designated dollar amount in the form of a scholarship to apply toward tuition at a public, private, or religious college or university of choice.
Source: BAEO/The Heritage Foundation, School Choice 2003