School choice allows families to use public funds for private education

15 states offer school voucher programs, serving nearly 350,000 students

Voucher programs direct public K–12 funding to families in the form of tuition grants for private schools and are typically targeted to low-income or special-needs students.

School choice vouchers have had mixed results

This podcast breaks down the arguments for and against vouchers and untangles what data suggests about them. While some states showed vouchers improving student learning, studies in Louisiana and Indiana showed that students who left public schools for private schools performed worse.

Economists warn that private schools can negatively affect public schools

Lower public school enrollment often means less public school funding. Private school parents, however, frequently argue that public schools simply aren’t offering the right education for their children. This podcast episode investigates that back-and-forth in San Francisco, where 30% of children attend private schools, nearly three times the national figure.

Private K-12 schools rely on tuition; colleges rely on funding for research

Tuition, endowments, donors, and grants often fund private schools, allowing them to eschew national curriculum standards. Private colleges and universities also charge tuition, but often rely on federal funding for research.

Private schools don’t inherently boost student performance

High test scores in private schools often reflect affluent, selective student bodies—not superior instruction. Studies show that private school advantages stem largely from socioeconomic factors and admission policies, not institutional quality.

Private school demographics in the US

Private school is a costly alternative to public school. As a result, there are numerous demographic differences between public and private school attendees, typically tied to income level. This source presents the latest statistics about private school attendance, as well as a searchable database to see the differences for schools near you.

Private education offered an alternative for Black Americans

The early public school system was ostensibly designed for all Americans, but it was also racially segregated, offering substandard schools for Black Americans. Some private schools were founded to combat that problem, including St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, the United States' oldest predominantly Black Catholic high school.

Charter schools are publicly funded, autonomous schools

Charter schools are tuition-free, publicly funded institutions operating under a contract ("charter") that grants autonomy in curriculum, staffing, and budgeting in exchange for accountability to performance metrics. They serve millions of students nationwide.

Approximately 10% of American K-12 students are enrolled in private schools

Around 75% of those students attend religiously affiliated institutions. In Hawaii and Washington, DC, 19% of students attend private schools, the highest enrollment percentages in the country.

Private schools are free to experiment with teaching styles

Because they’re not beholden to national curricula, private school teachers can use different pedagogical approaches, like Harkness, which was developed at New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy. The method brings students to a large round oval table and encourages them to lead the lesson through inquiry.

Pierce v. Society of Sisters limited state power over how parents educate their children

In striking down Oregon’s attempt to ban private schools, the Supreme Court held that forcing children into public education violated substantive due process, affirming that parents—not the state—have a fundamental right to direct their children’s upbringing and education.

Catholic education has grown smaller in the 21st Century

Declining numbers of priests and nuns, who often worked in the schools for free, led schools to increase tuition, which inadvertently turned away the schools’ primary demographic: working-class immigrant families. At the same time, the sexual abuse scandals of the early 2000s left many others feeling like Catholic schools were dangerous.

Family offices have been increasing their allocations to private credit

Private firms that manage family fortunes have been investing more in alternatives like venture capital and real estate, impacting the wider financial world.

Why donors love to give to the wealthy schools

In this podcast episode of Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell explores why Hank Rowan’s $100 million gift to a small New Jersey college didn’t inspire others to support underfunded schools. Instead, donors continue to flock to elite institutions like Harvard and Stanford. “My Little Hundred Million” examines ways ideology and prestige have reshaped educational giving.

Some parents have objected to yoga in schools

Yoga has been introduced in some public schools as a form of exercise and emotional regulation. Some parents, however, have objected to its inclusion, arguing that it promotes the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Note that this resource will be paywalled for some readers.

Most Americans support the separation of church and state

A 2021 Pew survey found that 55% of Americans strongly or moderately support the separation of church and state, while 14% favor integrating religion more into government.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provided federal aid to tackle inequity in public schools

Signed into law April 11, 1965, ESEA authorized over $1B in grants during its first year—boosting Title I programs which now provide $18.4B annually to support low-income students.

529s vs. Roth IRA

Roth IRAs and 529 plans both offer tax advantages, but they serve different goals. 529s are state-run accounts meant for education, offering tax-free growth and withdrawals for qualified expenses. Roth IRAs are built for retirement, but can also be tapped for education, with more investment flexibility and fewer contribution limits.

Visually explore the federal government’s evolving role in education

This photo collection traces the US shift from community and private schooling to federal oversight and ongoing political debates about the Department of Education.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores (2014) extended religious exemptions to family-owned corporations

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that family-owned companies could invoke the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to refuse contraception coverage required under the Affordable Care Act. It was the first time the court recognized that for-profit corporations could hold religious beliefs.

As healthcare costs have increased post-COVID, critics have been skeptical about the real impact HSAs/FSAs have had in alleviating medical expenses

Health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts are designed to be tax-advantaged ways for people to save money on healthcare and medical expenses. But one recent study found that HSAs can increase families' total out-of-pocket spending on healthcare by more than $500 per year.

Zoning laws determine what can be built—and where—in every American community

Local governments use zoning to regulate land use. About 75% of residentially zoned land in American cities is designated for single-family homes only—a restriction that some experts blame for increasing housing costs and reducing affordability.

Some parents think believing in Santa Claus hinders critical thinking

There’s a divide among Christian Scientists as to whether encouraging children to believe in Santa Claus is harmless fun or a potentially damaging lie. However, most American parents apparently encourage their children to believe in Santa.

Credit unions, explained

Proponents of credit unions often point to the fact they’re not-for-profit cooperatives instead of for-profit businesses as a key selling point. This explainer dives into what this looks like in action—instead of pocketing the profits from interest rates, credit unions reinvest that money into the products and services they offer. For customers, this tends to create a more personal and community-oriented experience.

Companies often use different share classes, like Class A or Class B, to structure ownership

Share classes refer to specific types of company stock that are distinguished by the rights they grant, such as voting power and dividend access.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Use this calculator to find the dollar value of your mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care for your children.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.