The School Starter Checklist: Understanding the Regulatory Landscape for Private Schools in America

Abstract

The past few years have been a fertile time for new school creation. Whether it was the disruption of the pandemic forcing families to improvise as their traditional schools struggled to cope with the challenge of the coronavirus, or the sweeping new private school choice policies passed in state after state, it has never been a better time to be an educational entrepreneur. That said, starting a school is a challenge. Not only is it a challenge in the ways that most people think--securing a space, hiring teachers, recruiting students, fixing the air conditioner when it goes on the fritz--but it also requires compliance with a host of regulations and requirements put forward by states. These requirements are not always clear and are not always easy to find. The purpose of this guide is to put in one place the state level regulations on private schools so that potential school leaders can easily find what they need to do to get started in their process. The following report organizes all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. alphabetically and includes the compilation of private school regulations for each respective state and regulations for virtual learning or microschools when available. Additionally, information regarding virtual and online schools or microschools and learning pods is included at the end of each state profile when available.