Abstract
Parental choice in education -- whereby parents have the freedom to choose the school their children attend -- is seeing explosive growth in popularity and implementation. Instead of sending children to an assigned school based on residence, Michigan parents have asked for and received the ability to send their children to public schools outside their home district and to create new charter schools to meet special needs and interests. This study from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy presents a path-breaking approach to expanding parental choice in Michigan education. It embodies a proposal to amend the Michigan Constitution and establish a Universal Tuition Tax Credit (UTTC). In addition to improving public education, the UTTC will save the state $3.4 billion in education expenses in the first ten years of implementation and over $500 million each year thereafter. These savings could be used to support additional educational programs, address other budget priorities, or reduce taxes on Michigan citizens or businesses.