ESAs

Source: EdChoice

Date: 10/28/25

Beyond Tuition: How Arizona Families Are Redefining ESA Spending

Written by EdChoice Fellow Dr. Susan Pendergrass, this report paints a picture of what educational expenses Arizona families are prioritizing, from tuition to specialized tutors to dance lessons, and offers recommendations for improving the program's glitches.

 

A few highlights from the report:

 

Arizona families still spend most of their ESA funds on tuition, but that percentage is decreasing As participation explodes, families are spending a greater percentage of their ESAs on tutoring, online learning, and extracurricular activities like sports and music A streamlined application process for new vendors would help families access a broader range of educational products and services

School Leadership and Management

Source: Manhattan Institute

Date: 10/30/25

The Case for Mayoral Control in New York City Education

The world's best school systems make it clear who is responsible for educational results. In contrast, most U.S. schools are governed through local boards, a structure that is uncommon internationally. Centralized authority allows systems to maintain consistent policies and hold leaders directly accountable for the outcome of students' education.[1] A global study of 25 school systems found that long-term reform depends on both spending and consistent, system-wide leadership.[2] More than 40 years ago, the federal report “A Nation at Risk” warned that U.S. schools were falling behind globally.[3] Despite decades of reform, the fragmented structure of how most schools are run in the U.S. may still be holding back much of the nation.

 

The system of responsibility and accountability in American education does not need to be this fragmented. Mayoral control has enabled New York City, the nation's largest school district, to implement system-wide reforms that were impossible under previous governance models. First adopted in Boston in 1992, then expanded to NYC in 2002 and later to Washington, D.C., in 2007, mayoral control shifted authority from elected boards to the mayor.[4] In this model, mayors set school district priorities and are directly responsible for the results.[5] This makes it possible to carry reforms across a large city, ensure stable leadership, and follow through on long-term plans. With the 2025 mayoral election approaching, the future of mayoral control in NYC remains uncertain, making the nation's largest school district the most consequential test of this governance model.

Special Education

Source: CRPE

Date: 10/28/25

Outmatched: Special Education Can't Solve Problems Rooted in the Education Delivery System

In early 2025, the National Center for Education Statistics quietly announced a new record: 7.9 million public school students were identified with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The new data capped off a decades-long trend towards increasing numbers of children being identified with disabilities and swept up into special education programs under the promise that doing so will provide students access to the support they need.

 

In this essay, we uncover the unexpected roots of these statistics. Using a newly curated dataset that tracks longitudinal trends in special education identification across states, we explore why more children are being identified for special education than in the past. We show that special education has become the stopgap for a public education system never designed to succeed at its core mission: to prepare every young person, regardless of circumstance, for a future of their choosing. While the expansion of special education has undoubtedly provided valuable support to some struggling students, millions of others remain underserved in general education classrooms, even as special education consumes ever larger shares of education budgets. Addressing these challenges, we argue, necessitates rethinking the education delivery itself.

Review of Wisconsin's Most Cost-Effective K-12 Program

Source: School Choice Wisconsin

Reviewed by: Bruce Baker, University of Miami

As one of the nation's longest-running private school voucher initiatives, Wisconsin's program has drawn decades of research interest. A recent report from a think tank called School Choice Wisconsin considers the cost-effectiveness of voucher-receiving schools in Racine, Milwaukee, and across the state.

University of Miami professor Bruce Baker reviewed Wisconsin's Most Cost-Effective K-12 Program, which claims that Wisconsin's voucher-receiving schools are far more cost effective than public district schools. Baker found the report's conclusions to be not just flawed, but completely wrong.

GreatLakesCenter.org