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PRIVATELY FUNDED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS For some families, school choice is easy. Those that are well-off financially can choose private schools or move to another community if they are unhappy with their public schools. For many families, however, financial and other constraints mean that these choices simply are not available to them. While Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Florida offer publicly funded scholarship programs in certain cases, most communities do not have such programs of opportunity. Numerous individuals and organizations, however, believe that other students and families throughout our nation should be given the opportunity of school choice, and philanthropists and philanthropic organizations have established privately-funded scholarship programs in communities across the United States. Like publicly funded scholarship programs, private scholarship programs give parents the power to choose the school best suited to their child's needs. School choice scholarship programs, whether they are publicly or privately funded, make it affordable for many families to choose the best schools for their children. A Brighter Choice Scholarships (ABCS) In 1996, Virginia Manheimer (formerly Gilder) "forever changed the face of the school choice debate by offering to pay a portion of private school tuition for all students attending Giffen Elementary School in Albany, New York," (A Century of Choice: Children First CEO America Founders' Meeting). A Brighter Choice Scholarships, or ABCS-Giffen, as the program is known, provides funding for approximately 90% of a student's tuition (up to $2,000 per year). Scholarships were offered again in 1999 to students attending Giffen Elementary School. The scholarships are good for up to three years or until the student reaches sixth grade, whichever is greater. Expiring scholarships are reviewed on an annual basis. At this time, new scholarships are limited to siblings of current scholarship recipients. In addition to the Giffen component of the ABCS program, there is a program that provides scholarships of 50% of tuition (up to $1,000 per year) to students attending any low-performing public school in Albany, Schenectady, or Troy, New York. The scholarships were offered in 1996 and 1997, and recipients were chosen by random lottery. The term of the scholarships was three years, but recently was extended to four years. There are no new scholarships being offered at this time. A Brighter Choice Scholarships (ABCS) The BISON Fund, founded in 1995, it is a privately funded program that provides scholarships to low-income children in the City of Buffalo. In the spring of 1999, the BISON (Buffalo Inner-city Scholarship Opportunity Network) Fund, "chosen to administer a $1 million matching grant from the newly formed, national scholarship philanthropy, the Children's Scholarship Fund (CSF). The partnership arrangement calls for the Buffalo community to raise $1 million over the next four years and CSF will match these funds dollar-for-dollar." In conjunction with the Children's Scholarship Fund, BISON provided scholarships to more than 1,250 children during the 1999-2000 school year. "The BISON Scholarship Fund is founded on the belief that all children, no matter rich or poor, should have access to the widest array of educational opportunities possible." The BISON Scholarship Fund Children First CEO AMERICA is the national clearinghouse of information on privately funded voucher programs. The organization's mission is: "To promote parental choice in education through private tuition grants and tax funded options, giving all families the power to choose the K-12 school that best fulfills the hopes and dreams they have for their children." In addition to serving as a clearinghouse, Children First CEO AMERICA provides support services for existing programs, works to provide matching grant funding to help develop these programs, and helps coordinate the development of new programs across the country. Children First CEO AMERICA Children's Scholarship Fund (CSF) - New York Declared by The New York Times to be "one of the largest private investments on behalf of school children," the Children's Scholarship Fund is supported by a group of businessmen and community and political leaders (including Congressman Charles Rangel (NYC), U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, and former First Lady Barbara Bush). The fund currently provides four-year scholarships to 400 low-income students in the city of Buffalo and 2,500 students in New York City. More than 168,184 students in New York City, or about 30 percent of the city's total student population applied for the scholarships when more than they were first offered in 1999. At this time, no new scholarships are available. Children's Scholarship Fund - New York Inner-City Scholarship Fund (ICSF) ICSF was founded in 1971 by Terence Cardinal Cook and a group of prominent executives of many religious beliefs. ICSF provides tuition assistance to approximately 1,700 New York City students attending 118 different inner-city schools of the Archdiocese of New York. While the program funds scholarships to only parochial schools, students receiving ICSF scholarships come from diverse backgrounds: 34% are non-Catholic, 89% are minority, and, 68% come from families in poverty). The Inner City Scholarship Fund is currently accepting applications for scholarships. Inner-City Scholarship Fund School Choice Scholarships Foundation The School Choice Scholarships Foundation offered multi-year scholarships that started in 1997 and 1998. The scholarship winners were chosen by lottery; each winner receives a scholarship of $1400 per year. The scholarships were originally awarded for a period of three years; however, the term of these scholarships has been extended. At this time, no new scholarships are available. School Choice Scholarships Foundation Founded in 1986, the program currently provides scholarships to 1,400 students in New York City. Students are matched with individual sponsors (who also serve as mentors during the student's four years of high school) who that pay a majority of the tuition to attend one of the 21 non-public high schools participating in the program. Students awarded scholarships must be entering 8th or 9th grade in New York City. Applications to receive a scholarship are made available in the early Spring each year. Students selected "typically come from low-income, single-parent homes, and are academically average or below average." Student/Sponsor Partnerships |
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