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Dear John,

It is week 304 and in this first Roundup of the new year, we are thinking about how the school choice landscape continues to change as the number of families participating in choice programs grows. Two recent Wall Street Journal articles capture two very different types of schools that are growing in popularity.

The first article, written by Roshan Fernandez, explores ([link removed]) how trade schools have emerged as one of the most sought after educational options in Massachusetts. “Jillian Hecking plans to become a veterinarian, which means college and then vet school. As a veterinary-assisting student at Nashoba Valley Tech, the junior already handles animals of all sizes, including cows her teacher brought to class,” writes Fernandez. “Families like the Heckings are recognizing the upside, particularly as artificial intelligence disrupts the labor market. Ed Bouquillon noticed more students from affluent families at Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School in upscale Lexington, Mass., as parents’ attitudes shifted. They realized that their kids would have an advantage if they had a specialization they enjoyed, said Bouquillon, the now-retired superintendent.”
Meanwhile, also writing in the Wall Street Journal, James Traub explores ([link removed]) the growing interest in classical education provided by specialized charter and private schools. “The Founders network is one constellation in an expanding galaxy of about 275 classical charter schools across the country. Including private Catholic and Protestant schools that call themselves classical, about 250,000 students now attend such schools,” Traub writes. “If you live anywhere outside the Sunbelt, you may never have heard of this movement, though it is one of the fastest-growing school reforms in the country … The traditionalism, rigor and discipline of classical schools—the thick wall against peer and popular culture—appeals to many newcomers to the U.S. As the school’s reputation has spread, immigrant families have applied in increasing numbers … A 2023 study found that
while enrollment in classical charter schools in Texas had grown sevenfold over the previous decade, growth among Asian-American and Hispanic students had far outpaced growth among whites.”

The promise of the school choice movement was to make it easier for parents and teachers to break free of one-size-fits-all school models that end up not fitting anyone all that well. That can make it hard at times to fully capture the diversity of the offerings but it is clear that families have never had a better opportunity to find the school that is right for them.

Last time ([link removed]) in the New Reality Roundup, we looked back at some highlights from 2025, including 50CAN’s 29 policy wins across the country. This week, we look to the promise of the biggest National School Choice Week yet and to some of the predictions from around the education sector on the policies that will matter in 2026.

Best,

Marc Porter Magee, PhD
50CAN Founder and CEO

@marcportermagee ([link removed])

Get ready for the biggest National School Choice Week yet
Two weeks from today, running from January 25 - 31, we’ll be celebrating the 16th annual National School Choice Week, which is slated to be the biggest National School Choice Week ever.

When the inaugural National School Choice Week launched in 2011, organizers planned 150 events across the country from school fairs to town halls with elected leaders. This year, the National School Choice Awareness Foundation expects over 28,000 events taking place from coast to coast. As we have for the past decade, 50CAN will be partnering with NSCAF to support events from Georgia to Hawaii, and a number of places in between. (For further details on 50CAN-supported events, see below in From the Field.)
Shelby Doyle, Senior Vice President of Policy and National Partnerships at the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, thinks that there’s plenty of reasons for advocates, elected officials and policy minds to be particularly excited about the 2026 offerings. “The biggest draw of National School Choice Week remains parents. As School Choice Week and support for choice has grown in state after state, we’re seeing a real eagerness from families to get informed about the opportunities they can access, and it isn’t lost on me that many of those opportunities were created through the tireless work of advocates at statehouses. But this year, we’re placing an extra focus on education policy and state leadership. It feels like the right time.”

What can advocates expect from the 2026 National School Choice Week? “I don’t want to spoil any surprises,” Shelby told us, “But with the federal scholarship tax credit and a whole lot of Governors who haven’t weighed in, it seems like this would be the ideal week to hear about their commitments to school choice, don’t you think?”

Governors won’t be the only VIPs spotlighted, however, with Miami-based rapper Pitbull and his SLAM Foundation producing a School Choice Week-customized edit of his hit song, “Can’t Stop Us Now.” For those of you with a sense of rhythm, there’s still time to download the song and learn the accompanying dance before National School Choice Week kicks off on the 25th.

Finally, as a reminder to advocates, more internet searches for school choice happen during National School Choice Week than any other week in the year, making it a great opportunity to spread the word and build support.
* The task this week is to check out and sign up ([link removed]) for the NSCW events happening near you and to spread the word using the communications toolkit ([link removed]) .

Make your predictions for education in 2026
A new year brings predictions from across the education sector on the trending policies and reforms that will be focused on in 2026. Here’s some we’re taking note of at 50CAN:

The education that's right for you

[link removed]

K-12 Dive released ([link removed]) their annual predictions and at the top of the stack is continued growth of school choice programs and the number of participating families, buoyed both by the federal tax credit scholarship and new states bringing on private school choice programs. “There’s no doubt that the demand for choice has continued since COVID,” EdChoice CEO Robert Enlow told the outlet, noting “the number of students participating in state-led universal private school choice programs has grown from about 64,000 in 2022-23 to 1.3 million in 2024-25.”

For more on the state of school choice in 2026, check out the 25th anniversary of EdChoice’s ABCs of School Choice report. The 2026 version ([link removed]) is updated with new information about the spread of school choice programs around the country and information on the federal tax credit.

Tutoring and care for all

Last year, we published ([link removed]) our policy report Mathways: Every Kid is a Math Kid. With math getting more and more attention with each passing day, it seems certain that it will remain a focus for advocates, educators and policymakers over 2026. Marazano Research agrees ([link removed]) , suggesting that early numeracy is on track to becoming the next science of reading: “By the end of 2026, the Science of Reading will be the baseline expectation rather than a reform. Literacy efforts will center on implementation quality, Tier 1 instruction, and usable data rather than adoption. At the same time, states will launch intensive early numeracy initiatives, including new guidance, screening requirements, and professional learning expectations,” they write.

Researchers at the NWEA agree ([link removed]) , and have their own predictions for 2026, with Daniel Long also predicting a focus on access. “Only about three in five schools offer Algebra by 8th grade - and even where it’s available, Black and Latino students are still less likely to be placed, even when they show strong academic readiness,” he says. “The path to math equity involves both increasing the number of students who are ready for advanced math and ensuring that every student who’s ready receives a fair opportunity to take it and succeed.”

A world of open and connected learning

One pandemic innovation that shouldn’t stop despite depleted ESSER funds should be an investment in summer learning, according ([link removed]) to NWEA’s Emily Morton. “Increasingly, research points to summer learning as one of the most practical and sustainable large-scale strategies for academic growth. The next challenge is to build on that foundation: increasing participation, extending program length, and securing reliable funding so that summer learning becomes a recurring opportunity rather than a temporary fix.”

A family's right to know what's working

K-12 Dive spoke ([link removed]) with Accelerate’s Nakia Towns, who predicts that states will have a renewed focus on student achievement in 2026. “States will take the helm on much of this work” to drive scores up, she said, noting that policies and districts supporting high-quality instructional materials will play an important role.

But NWEA’s Karyn Lewis is concerned ([link removed]) over a lack of data leading to a lack of understanding of student progress. “The erosion of this reliable infrastructure comes at a time when academic recovery remains uneven and the demand for clear, contextualized data has never been greater. In response, districts and states will increasingly look to independent, transparent sources for timely, nonpartisan insights they can trust. Expect to see new public-facing data tools emerge to fill this void.”

A clear path to a career

Late last year, Excel in Ed released ([link removed]) a report by Adriana Harrington and Nathan Oakley, offering a framework of 45 policies to improve career pathways, from accountability to credentialing to work-based learning.

How many of these policies will become law in 2026? Marzano Research is optimistic ([link removed]) , suggesting, “state policy is moving beyond broad college and career readiness language toward concrete expectations: employability skills, work-based, industry-recognized credentials and applied performance tasks. As expectations become measurable and public, districts will be held accountable for embedding them across systems rather than in isolated CTE programs.”
* The task this week is to cast your own predictions for 2026. Have a prediction that we missed? Reply to the Roundup and let us know.


Following a bill signing for distraction-free schools that limited non-academic cell phone usage, JerseyCAN’s Paula White stands with outgoing Governor Murphy, two of JerseyCAN’s teacher fellows and two high school students who are part of JerseyCAN’s inaugural Student Civic Leaders Fellowship.

A new poll from the TennesseCAN Action Fund and Anchor Research drops later today, with upcoming coverage ([link removed]) in the Tennessee Journal on rising support for school choice among Republican primary voters.

The National School Choice Awareness Foundation and 50CAN are teaming up to lead events in Hawaii, Colorado and Tennessee later this month:

* HawaiiKidsCAN will host the Hawaii K-12 Parent and School Expo at The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum on Sunday, January 25. “Hawaii has a wealth of educational offerings to meet our diverse population. There is no better place to celebrate learning than The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, and we are proud to offer free admission to families participating in our expo,” said David Sun-Miyashiro, Executive Director of HawaiiKidsCAN.
* GeorgiaCAN will host the Atlanta School Choice Expo at the Loudermilk Conference Center on Saturday, January 24. “This is Atlanta’s premier event providing parents with a unique opportunity to explore all of the different and innovative approaches to education, across a wide variety of school types,” said Michael O’Sullivan, Executive Director of GeorgiaCAN.
* Transform Education Now hosted the Denver School Choice Expo this past Saturday, with Executive Director Nicholas Hernandez saying, “This was another exceptional year for family’s only opportunity to see all choice options in the Denver area, including district, innovation, charter and private school. There was tangible excitement among families as they looked for their next great school option.”

The Campaign for Grade Level Reading is hosting ([link removed]) 50CAN’s Liz Cohen on January 20, where she’ll share insights from her book, The Future of Tutoring, with an eye towards implementation best practices.


A new study from Brookings states ([link removed]) that decades of reform to school funding formulas have been successful in closing income-based gaps but unsuccessful–and sometimes detrimental–in closing race-based gaps.

Last year’s deadlocked 4-4 ruling in the Supreme Court over religious charter schools isn’t the end of the story, according to new reporting ([link removed]) from Chalkbeat, which documents new cases developing in a number of states.

An analysis from The 74 Million finds ([link removed]) that the wealthier a district, the more enrollment is falling, with the wealthiest 20% of districts losing students at a rate five times higher than others.

The Century Foundation explores ([link removed]) why support for integrated schools among Black parents has been dropping steadily since the 1970s.

Research from EdWorkingPapers found ([link removed]) a significant improvement in math skills when students were tutored in groups of two twice a week, compared with students tutored in groups of three, three times a week.

The Grade’s Alexander Russo closed out the year by naming ([link removed]) his top ten education media stories of 2025.

Education Next follows up ([link removed]) on the districts that received surprise $20 million+ gifts from MacKenzie Scott three years ago, finding that results have been a mixed bag.

Performance gaps between 90th percentile students and 10th percentile students have increased over the past twenty years, suggests ([link removed]) research at EdWorkingPapers.

Urban Institute studied ([link removed]) apprenticeship programs in Virginia, finding that between 2017 and 2024 active apprenticeships grew from 6,000 to 18,000 in the Commonwealth.

New America profiles ([link removed]) a community college in West Virginia that is going all in on registered apprenticeship programs, to the boon of both students and the university.


A team of students from Pembroke Pines Charter High School has been named ([link removed]) an MIT Inventeam, one of eight high school teams selected by the university for being the most promising inventors in the country. The Pembroke team earned the award after developing a robot to remove evasive plants from the Everglades. They were awarded $7,500 in seed money and will receive ongoing tutoring to help scale up their invention.

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