In most areas of life, when something isn’t working, we look for a better option. In K–12 education, though, children are assigned to public schools based on where they live—and if that school isn’t a good fit, the child is generally seen as the problem. School choice is changing that by expanding access to alternative learning environments. But educational freedom changes lives only if parents and teachers know what options exist, which is why Cato’s Friday Feature highlights the schools, policies, and organizations bringing those choices within reach.

It would be an extreme understatement to say that this has been an exciting week for Kanesha Barnes-Adams and her husband, founders of The Learning Lounge. On Tuesday, it was announced that The Learning Lounge won this year’s $1 million Yass Prize, dubbed the “Pulitzer for Education Innovation.” 

“When we started The Learning Lounge in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, we weren’t trying to build the biggest school. We were trying to build a school where every child could be seen, supported, and celebrated beyond the labels placed on them,” Kanesha says. “Winning the $1 million Yass Prize is more than a recognition of our work; it is a reminder that innovation doesn’t have to come from big cities or big institutions. Sometimes, the biggest ideas come from the smallest communities. This moment belongs to our students, our families, our educators, and every rural community that has ever been told what’s possible for their children.” 

A recently filed lawsuit against West Virginia’s Hope Scholarship reads like plaintiffs threw spaghetti at a wall and hoped some of it would stick. The plaintiffs claim the scholarship is unconstitutional, but the problems they blame on Hope predate it, and the funding and legal claims fall apart on closer inspection.

Thousands of West Virginia kids are benefiting from the Hope Scholarship, an education savings account (ESA) program enacted in 2021 that allows parents to use state funds for a variety of educational expenses rather than sending their child to their assigned public school. Eligibility for the scholarship was limited in the first several years to students who were transferring out of public schools or entering kindergarten for the first time. The 2026–27 school year is the first when all students in the state are eligible. 

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In most areas of life, when something isn’t working, we look for a better option. In K–12 education, though, children are assigned to public schools based on where they live—and if that school isn’t a good fit, the child is generally seen as the problem. School choice is changing that by expanding access to alternative learning environments. But educational freedom changes lives only if parents and teachers know what options exist, which is why Cato’s Friday Feature highlights the schools, policies, and organizations bringing those choices within reach.

When Meghan Pileggi left the Marine Corps in 2020, she was ready for a change. A former comptroller and financial management officer who had spent time at the Pentagon and deployed overseas, she wanted more time with her children. She started homeschooling and loved it. Eventually, several factors inspired her to create a school. 

For starters, one of her children is autistic, and Meghan didn’t feel equipped to homeschool her. But Meghan also wasn’t comfortable with the options available in the local public schools. North Carolina’s school choice programs offered another possibility: scholarship funding could help her hire experts who could support her daughter’s needs. 

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Today, October 1, the Treasury Department and IRS issued proposed regulations for the new federal scholarship tax credit (FSTC), which was created by the “One Big Beautiful Bill” last year. While this program goes beyond the federal government’s role and shouldn’t have been created, it’s crucial that its implementation maximize educational freedom. 

Last week, I wrote about a potential problem in how Treasury was planning to define school. That definition matters because the FSTC law defines eligible students as an individual who “is eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school” and meets certain income criteria. It then defines qualified expenses by pointing to the Coverdell Education Savings Account law, which includes expenses—such as tuition, tutoring, and services for students with special needs—“incurred in connection with the enrollment or attendance … at a public, private, or religious school.” 

The FSTC law does not define school or education.

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In his recent article, “The Strange Death of Libertarianism,” conservative Daniel McCarthy argues that libertarianism has lost its raison d’être and is no longer relevant. Free markets, he says, triumphed in the 20th century; marijuana and pornography are mainstream; and Americans are supposedly demoralized by “anti-government ideology.” Libertarianism apparently has nothing new to offer, so it’s time to move on with “right-wing populism” in the fight against a resurgent “socialism.” Mr. McCarthy also makes clear that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, potential 2028 presidential candidates, prefer “common-ground” capitalism and align with right-wing populists.

Two things strike me about his argument. First, libertarianism is much more than a list of policies, such as free markets and legal marijuana. It is a theory of individual liberty and political power, centered on a timeless question: Who decides—the individual or the government? Second, libertarian ideas do not become obsolete because they succeed. Their success shows their power—and why the struggle for individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace never ends. The ominous rise of socialism and right-wing populism, both of which share some economic and political views, only makes libertarian ideas more relevant.

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In most areas of life, when something isn’t working, we look for a better option. In K–12 education, though, children are assigned to public schools based on where they live—and if that school isn’t a good fit, the child is generally seen as the problem. School choice is changing that by expanding access to alternative learning environments. But educational freedom changes lives only if parents and teachers know what options exist, which is why Cato’s Friday Feature highlights the schools, policies, and organizations bringing those choices within reach.

Elizabeth Dean, a high school teacher turned instructional coach in Fairfax County, Virginia, was researching student voice and leadership in secondary schools for her dissertation when she learned about the Acton Academy network. As soon as she realized one was opening right down the street from where she and her family lived, she stopped what she was doing and learned all she could about it. 

“I was very intrigued by the model and excited that it was something that maybe my own kids could go to,” she recalls. Her oldest daughter was about to enter kindergarten, so they put down a deposit at The Village School and figured they’d make the logistics work. 

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Many in the K‑12 education world are anxiously awaiting the proposed regulations on the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC). The program, enacted in the 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill,” provides a dollar-for-dollar federal income tax credit, up to $1,700, for donations to approved scholarship-granting organizations. 

The law requires the Secretary of the Treasury to issue “such regulations or other guidance” deemed necessary for the program. In June, the Treasury Department said the regulations would be issued “this coming back-to-school season—no later than the end of September.” 

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