[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-584808-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-584808-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","mackinac-center-policy-primer-education-choice-in-education-full-constitutional-choice-finally-comes-to-michigan-families","MACKINAC CENTER POLICY PRIMER - Education Choice in Education - Full Constitutional Choice Finally Comes to Michigan Families","","Education Choice in Education explains why Michigan Opportunity Scholarships matter for families facing limited schooling options during the COVID pandemic. It describes how Michigan parents are blocked by the “Blaine Amendment” from using state funding outside the public system, then highlights the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. The proposal outlines Student Opportunity Scholarships funded by tax credits, enabling scholarship organizations to grant funds used for tutoring, materials, therapies, programs, and other education-related needs.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mackinac-center-policy-primer-education-choice-in-education-full-constitutional-choice-finally-comes-to-michigan-families/584808/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mackinac-center-policy-primer-education-choice-in-education-full-constitutional-choice-finally-comes-to-michigan-families/584808.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Sophia Brooks","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why do Michigan families need education options during the COVID pandemic?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Families faced frustration due to a lack of educational options that could meet children’s specific academic needs. The pandemic revealed and intensified obstacles Michigan parents encounter.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does the Blaine Amendment restrict in Michigan’s education funding?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It prevents parents from drawing on state funding to go outside the public school system. This restriction limits families’ ability to choose alternatives such as private schooling or specialized services.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How would Student Opportunity Scholarships be funded and administered?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The plan uses tax credits so individuals and corporate donors can direct state tax obligations to nonprofit scholarship organizations. The Michigan Department of Treasury would authorize organizations to grant scholarships under the new program.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},584808,1792230963,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":108,"preview_page_count":4},962084925636,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","i  \nEDUCATION  \nM A C K I N A C C E N T E R  \nP O L I C Y P R I M E R  \nEducation  \nChoice in Education: Why Michigan Opportunity Scholarships are Constitutional  \nFamilies across Michigan were frustrated and exasperated by the lack of educational options available during the COVID pandemic. But the pandemic only exposed and magnified the obstacles Michigan parents encounter as they try to meet their children’s specific academic needs.  \nFor some families, this means gaining access toa stable in-person private school. Others need support to hire a tutor for their public school student, buy supplemental instructional materials, or pay for special-needs therapies. Students may also require help to enroll in higher education courses or career apprenticeships.  \nWhile families in many other parts of the country  \ncan use state-allotted student funding to help cover the costs of these educational options, families in Michigan can’t. They have been restricted by the state constitution’s antiquated and discriminatory “Blaine Amendment,” a provision which prevents parents from drawing on state funding to go outside the public school system.  \nFortunately for Michigan parents and students, the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that state-based scholarship funds could be used to help students attend private schools. More specifically, the high court’s decision in the case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue stated that any restrictions on using these funds cannot discriminate against religious institutions.  \nU.S. Supreme Court decisions carry the weight of federal law. Now that the high court has spoken, Michigan families can demand that state lawmakers honor their right to apply scholarship fund dollars to the educational materials and services that best suit their children’s needs.  \nthat in the first quarter of 2021, Michigan’s economy created 297,237 jobs. During that same time, another 172,427 jobs were lost. The number of jobs the state hopes will be created during that same quarter thanks to subsidies is, by comparison, minuscule.  \nEducation  \n States with Private School Choice Programs  States without Private School Choice Programs  \nSource: Great Lakes Education Project  \nEducation  \nFull Constitutional Choice Finally Comes to Michigan Families  \nA legislative proposal known as Student Opportunity Scholarships relies on tax credits, an approach to financing choice in education that heeds guidance provided by the Espinoza ruling. It’s also consistent with ideas promoted by the Mackinac Center for nearly 25 years and adopted, in various forms, by 20 states.  \nThis approach provides a tax benefit for individual and corporate donors to invest in students rather than the bureaucratic K-12 system. It lets them designate some of what they owe in state taxes to fund nonprofit scholarship organizations. Their donations, in turn,  \nwould directly aid students and their families, who are best equipped to make important educational decisions.  \nThe legislative solution would:  \n● Enable the Michigan Department of Treasury to authorize nonprofit organizations to grant scholarships under the new Student Opportunity Scholarship Program  \n● Allow nonprofit organizations to solicit  \nand collect donations from individuals  \nand businesses, and accept scholarship applications from students’ families  \n● Direct resources to students, with an emphasis on those with the greatest need  \nMore than a million public school students would be eligible for scholarships of up to $500 each (with up to $1,100 for students with disabilities), which could be used for a wide variety of education-related expenses, including:  \n● Tutoring  \n● Textbooks and instructional materials  \n● After-school programs  \n● Special-needs therapies  \n● Career and apprenticeship programs  \n● Online courses  \n● Testing fees  \n● School-related transportation  \nStudents not enrolled in public schools could apply for larger scholarships, which could also be used for t","cbCainc0QXSrwxCj","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainc0QXSrwxCj","pdf",2340312,16,"English","# Choice in Education: Why Michigan Opportunity Scholarships are Constitutional\n## Constitutional and legal background (Blaine Amendment; Espinoza v. Montana)\n## Student Opportunity Scholarships: policy overview\n## What the scholarships can be used for\n## Opportunity Scholarships: Michigan Families Have Waited Long Enough","[{\"question\":\"Why do Michigan families need education options during the COVID pandemic?\",\"answer\":\"Families faced frustration due to a lack of educational options that could meet children’s specific academic needs. The pandemic revealed and intensified obstacles Michigan parents encounter.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the Blaine Amendment restrict in Michigan’s education funding?\",\"answer\":\"It prevents parents from drawing on state funding to go outside the public school system. This restriction limits families’ ability to choose alternatives such as private schooling or specialized services.\"},{\"question\":\"How would Student Opportunity Scholarships be funded and administered?\",\"answer\":\"The plan uses tax credits so individuals and corporate donors can direct state tax obligations to nonprofit scholarship organizations. The Michigan Department of Treasury would authorize organizations to grant scholarships under the new program.\"}]","MACKINAC CENTER POLICY PRIMER - Education Choice in Education - Full Constitutional Choice Finally Comes to Michigan Families | PDF",1792052454]