(from the Education Writers Association) Most changes to private school choice policy in 2019 are expected at the state level. In places like Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, where new Republican governors replace retiring GOP leaders, efforts to expand private school choice appear likely. Florida in 2018 added one more choice initiative to its growing list, the Hope Scholarship program, which provides vouchers for students who are victims of bullying, harassment, physical attack or other such incidents. On the flip side, in places like Illinois, Nevada and Wisconsin, new Democratic governors who replace Republicans may seek to curtail or abolish voucher programs, or impose new regulations on them. The new Illinois governor, Democrat J.B. Pritzker, has been sharply critical of a $75 million program of private school scholarships created in 2017.
The area most likely to gain momentum across the country is education savings accounts or ESAs, which allow parents and grandparents to save money for education tax-free.
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