'The ultimate in school choice'

Next year, any parent in Nevada can pull his child from a public school and receive state dollars to pay for private school or home schooling, reports Lyndsey Layton for The Washington Post. The law is a conservative breakthrough; Georgia, Iowa, and Rhode Island considered similar legislation this year. The law is singular in that all the state's 450,000 public school children -- regardless of household income -- are eligible. Supporters argue the state's public system, regularly at the bottom in comparisons with other states on academic achievement, left no alternative. As the country's most expansive voucher plan, it could exacerbate the gap between the state's rich and poor, subsidizing affluent families that choose elite private schools inaccessible to struggling students or those who can't afford tuition even with a voucher, says Eskelsen García of the National Education Association. Since 2006, 27 states have opted for school choice, ranging from vouchers for students from low- and middle-income families or disabled students; to tax credits for donations to private school scholarships; to education savings accounts that allow families to use public funds for private tuition, tutoring, online education, and other services. Nevada's low-income families and students with disabilities can receive $5,700, the state's annual expenditure per public school student; middle- and upper-income families can receive $5,100. More