December 27, 2013 8:02AM # 2013: Yet Another ‘Year of School Choice’ By [Jason Bedrick](https://www.cato.org/people/jason-bedrick) --- SHARE In 1980, frustrated by the attention given to Paul Ehrlich’s Malthusian doomsaying, economist Julian Simon challenged Ehrlich to a [wager](http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/01/13/but-why-did-julian-simon-win-the-paul-ehrlich-bet/). They agreed on a basket of five commodity metals that Simon predicted would fall in price over 10 years (indicating growing supply relative to demand, contrary to the Malthusian worldview) and Ehrlich predicted would rise. In 1990, all five metals had decreased relative to their 1980 prices and Ehrlich cut Simon a check. In 2011, two education policy analysts made a similar wager. After Jay Mathews of the *Washington Post* [predicted](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/vouchers-work-but-so-what/2011/03/24/ABNNgrPB_blog.html) that voters would “continue to resist” private school choice programs, Greg Forster of the [Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice](http://www.edchoice.org) challenged Matthews to a [wager](http://jaypgreene.com/2011/03/25/fear-the-win-win/), which Mathews [accepted](http://jaypgreene.com/2011/04/04/me-and-mathews-its-back-on/): Forster would win if at least seven new or expanded private school choice programs (i.e., vouchers or scholarship tax credits, but not including charter schools) were signed into law by the end of the year. That July, the *Wall Street Journal* declared 2011 to be the “[Year of School Choice](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304450604576420330972531442)” after [13 states enacted 19 new or expanded private school choice programs](http://jaypgreene.com/2011/07/01/greg-goes-heisman-in-2011-reform-blowout/), nearly triple the number Forster needed to win the bet. Undeterred, the following year Mathews [proclaimed](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/why-romney-obama-are-education-twins/2012/05/27/gJQAz20fuU_blog.html) that school choice programs “have no chance of ever expanding very far,” prompting [another challenge](http://jaypgreene.com/2012/05/29/jay-mathews-comes-back-for-more/) from Forster. Mathews did not take the bet, which was fortunate for him because in 2012 [10 states enacted 12 new or expanded private school choice programs](http://reason.org/news/show/apr-2013-school-choice-roundup). Now, for the third year in a row, Forster’s prediction has proved true, with [10 states enacting 14 new or expanded private school choice programs](http://jaypgreene.com/2013/12/26/use-the-force-mooc-a-2013-retrospective/), including: - Alabama: new [scholarship tax credit](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Alabama-Accountability-Act-of-2013-School-Choice-Scholarships.aspx) program and new [tax credit rebate](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Alabama-Accountability-Act-of-2013-School-Choice-Tax-Credit---Rebate.aspx) program - Arizona: expansion of [education savings account](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Empowerment-Scholarship-Accounts.aspx) program - Georgia: expansion of [scholarship tax credit](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Private-School-Tax-Credit-for-Donations-to-Student-Scholarship-Organizations.aspx) program - Indiana: expansions of [voucher](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Choice-Scholarship-Program.aspx) program and [scholarship tax credit](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/School-Scholarship-Tax-Credit.aspx) program - Ohio: new statewide [voucher](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Income-Based-Scholarship-Program.aspx) program - North Carolina: new [low-income voucher](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Opportunity-Scholarships.aspx) program and new [special needs voucher](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Special-Education-Scholarship-Grants-for-Children-with-Disabilities.aspx) program - Iowa: expansion of [scholarship tax credit](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/School-Tuition-Organization-Tax-Credit.aspx) program - South Carolina: new [special needs scholarship tax credit](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Educational-Credit-for-Exceptional-Needs-Children.aspx) program - Utah: expansion of [special needs voucher](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Carson-Smith-Special-Needs-Scholarship-Program.aspx) program - Wisconsin: new statewide [voucher](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Parental-Choice-Program--Statewide-.aspx) program and new [tuition tax deduction](http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/Programs/Tuition-Tax-Deduction-1.aspx) Most of these laws are [overly limited](https://www.cato.org/blog/south-carolina-adopts-school-choice) and several carry unnecessary and even [counterproductive](https://www.cato.org/blog/school-choice-expands-georgia) regulations like [mandatory standardized testing](https://www.cato.org/blog/why-school-choice-programs-should-not-require-testing). Nevertheless, they are a step in the right direction, away from a government monopoly and toward a true system of education choice. Of course, that’s why defenders of the status quo have made 2013 the [Year of the Anti-School Choice Lawsuit](https://www.cato.org/blog/school-choice-lawsuit-roundup). ##### Related Tags [Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).