Two new organizations that will promote school voucher programs and other “school choice” issues across the nation are close to launching operations in Phoenix.

Clint Bolick, vice president and one of two co-founders of the Institute for Justice, will serve as president and general counsel of the newly formed School Choice Alliance and its companion organization, School Choice Advocates, beginning April 2.

Mr. Bolick is director of state chapter development for Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest organization that opened its first state chapter in Arizona in August 2001. Institute for Justice has litigated a number of cases involving school vouchers for parents who wish to use public funding to send their children to the schools of their choice. The most noted case is Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the school voucher program in Cleveland, Ohio.

Consolidating Efforts

Institute for Justice also has litigation in the courts on a number of other Arizona issues, including challenges to the Clean Elections Act, licensing requirements for African hair braiders and the state’s prohibition on direct shipments of wine by out-of-state wineries.

School Choice Alliance and School Choice Advocates will consolidate the efforts of three organizations that have been involved for several years in school choice issues – the American Education Reform Council and the American Education Reform Foundation, both in Milwaukee, and Children First America in Austin, Texas.

School Choice Alliance, a section 501(c)(3) nonprofit, will research and promote school choice, while School Choice Advocates, a 501(c)(4) organization, will concentrate on lobbying for legislation, said Susan Mitchell, president of American Education Reform Council and American Education Reform Foundation.

“We’re trying to eliminate duplication and focus resources” in consolidating the Wisconsin and Texas groups, Ms. Mitchell said. She will leave the organizations once the Phoenix operations commence to head a new group, School Choice Wisconsin that will work with School Choice Alliance and School Choice Advocates.

The new organizations will continue to focus on school choice issues at the state and local levels, she said. “State and local is where all the action is on these important public policy issues,” Ms. Mitchell said. —