Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Checking in with the Cato Private Schooling Status Tracker

by August 5, 2024
August 5, 2024
Checking in with the Cato Private Schooling Status Tracker

Colleen Hroncich

With a new school year approaching, it’s time to reset the Cato Private Schooling Status Tracker and see what happened over the last year.

The tracker runs from August 1 through July 31 each year and tracks openings and permanent closures announced during that timeframe. The 2023–24 tracker was similar to the previous year with 46 openings and 58 closures, resulting in a net loss of 12 schools. The 2022–23 tracker listed 47 openings and 54 closures for a net loss of seven schools. Looking back to 2020–21, there were 59 closures after the initial spike of more than 100 closures in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19. This year-to-year similarity in closures seems to indicate things have stabilized when it comes to the health of the private school sector.

These stats raise the question: who cares? Why do we track and report what’s happening among private schools? Since states started to mandate funding and attendance at public schools in the mid-1800s, private schools have faced the tremendous challenge of competing with a tuition-free alternative. In recent decades—and especially since the pandemic—people have increasingly realized one size does not fit all kids when it comes to education. This has led to an increase in school choice programs that allow state education funds to follow kids to a variety of learning options.

However, the spread of educational freedom through school choice programs won’t be helpful if there are no private options available. In a healthy marketplace, underperforming options will close and new providers will open. This mechanism is disrupted in the current system because funding goes to public schools without any link to how well they perform. And private options that serve students well may not be sustainable because their main competition is tuition-free. Programs like education savings accounts (ESAs), tax credit scholarships, and vouchers help provide a more level playing field.

In addition to fairer funding mechanisms, some states are taking steps to ensure new educational options don’t have to jump through unnecessary hoops to open. For example, this year Florida—a long-time school choice leader—passed a law that makes it easier to open new schools. As of July 1, 2024, private schools can be opened in facilities owned or leased by churches, libraries, community service organizations, museums, theaters, and more without needing special use permits or re-zoning. According to Ryan Delk, founder and CEO of the microschool network Primer and one of the advocates for the new law, around 50,000 locations are now eligible to operate schools.

The new tracking year could prove to be interesting with many new and expanded school choice programs being more fully enacted in the last year or two. For example, Iowa and Arkansas have new ESAs, Florida made its ESA universal, North Carolina’s voucher is now universal, and Oklahoma has a new universal refundable tax credit for education. We’ll be keeping an eye out to see how the private school sector fares in the midst of all of these changes.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Mike Johnson mounts 20-state blitz to keep House red as GOP braces for Harris VP reveal
next post
Taiwan Arms Backlog, July 2024 Update

You may also like

DC Purple Line Cost Overruns and Delays Continue

March 11, 2024

Affordable Housing: Tax Credits vs Deregulation

February 26, 2024

Stealing from SNAP

July 11, 2023

The Government Uses “Standing” Doctrine to Evade Judicial...

April 22, 2025

Jones Act Helps Sink New Jersey Offshore Wind...

November 13, 2023

The Best Political Argument for More Immigration Restrictions...

November 7, 2024

Government Funding Bill Continues Irresponsible Status Quo as...

March 14, 2025

Some Welcome Trade Facts from White House Economists

March 22, 2024

Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man

February 20, 2024

Treating Business Costs Correctly in the Tax Code

September 5, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • MARK HALPERIN: Democrats try to construct a Frankenstein candidate while JD Vance gains momentum for 2028

      June 6, 2025
    • ‘Gone too far’: GOP lawmakers rally around Trump after Musk raises Epstein allegations

      June 6, 2025
    • Democrats begin to embrace Musk amid Trump spat after party railed against him as a ‘dictator’

      June 6, 2025
    • Trump administration defends US and Israeli sovereignty with new sanctions against four ICC judges

      June 5, 2025
    • Musk unleashes wild Epstein claim against Trump after being booted from DOGE

      June 5, 2025
    • Three Charts Showing Proper Moving Average Alignment

      June 5, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,149)
    • Investing (2,011)
    • Politics (15,543)
    • Stocks (3,129)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved