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First-in-the-Nation Proposal For Foster Children Released today

Foster care children can have better lives through school choice

Published on October 11th, 2005
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GERMANTOWN, MD - The Maryland Public Policy Institute presents a first-in-the-nation targeted school choice program: opportunity scholarships for Maryland’s 11,500 foster care children.

“School Choice for Maryland’s Foster Care Children: Fostering Stability, Satisfaction, and Achievement,” by Dan Lips, MPPI senior fellow for education policy studies and education policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, puts forth a fiscally viable solution that would provide educational stability and choice for the state’s foster care children. This program would offer foster children the opportunity to attend a high-quality school of choice regardless of change in the child’s residence.

“Unfortunately, too many foster children receive a substandard education,” says Lips, who outlines a specific proposal for how policymakers could create the nation’s first educational opportunity program for children in foster care. He calls for offering opportunity scholarships worth $8,000 apiece to the estimated 11,500 children currently in foster care in the state of Maryland, 7,000 of whom are in Baltimore City. The program can be administered at no additional cost to taxpayers and in partnership with state services, and at a lower cost than the average per-pupil cost.

According to the study, children in foster care are among the most at-risk in our society. Says Lips, “One key factor that determines whether a foster child will achieve a successful transition is the quality of primary and secondary education he or she receives.” Compared to the general population, foster children have lower scores on standardized tests and higher absenteeism, tardiness, truancy, and dropout rates. Maryland’s foster children would have the freedom to attend a school of choice and attain social and academic stability not typically available to them.

School Choice for Maryland’s Foster Care Children: Fostering Stability, Satisfaction, and Achievement can be accessed online at: http://www.mdpolicy.org/research/education/fostercarefinal.pdf

Dan Lips is available for comment on educational choice in Maryland and the proposal for foster care children at (240) 686-3510 or contact Alison Lake at alake@mdpolicy.org.

The Maryland Public Policy Institute is a 501 (C) (3) nonpartisan public policy research and education organization that focuses on Maryland public policy issues.

Available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.