The Hoover Institution hosted "A New Federal Push on Private School Choice? Three Options to Consider" on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 from 12:30pm - 2:45pm EST. 

One of the few education promises President-elect Trump made on the campaign trail was to launch a major new federal initiative on school choice. By nominating choice advocate Betsy DeVos to be his secretary of education, he indicated that he was serious about it. Yet the odds of getting a major program through Congress are daunting, what with conservative Republicans committed to limiting the federal role in education and cutting spending, with Democrats strongly tied to the teachers unions—and with the main federal K–12 programs only recently reauthorized.

As the 115th Congress begins, and the new Administration prepares to take office, what options might policymakers consider as they design a new initiative on private school choice? Join the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Hoover Institution on January 18th to hear Representative Luke Messer, one of Congress’s leading advocates for parental choice, and a panel of policy experts discuss the road ahead. Panelists discussed the pros and cons of three distinct approaches to promoting choice: a new competitive grant program; allowing Title I and/or IDEA funds to follow children to their schools of choice, including private schools; and adapting the tax code to stimulate additional support for state-created private-school scholarship programs.

12:30pm - Registration & Lunch
1:00pm - Introduction
1:10pm - Keynote 
1:30pm - Panel

Keynote
Representative Luke Messer, Congressman for Indiana's 6th Congressional District

Introduction
Mike Franc, Hoover Institution

Panelists
Joanne Weiss, Weiss Associates
Andy Smarick, American Enterprise Institute
Virginia Gentles, American Federation for Children
McKenzie Snow, Foundation for Excellence in Education

Moderator
Michael Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute