"Opportunity Knocks" scholarships

Steal this idea from the private sector

The Yass Prize announced this week that they’re planning to provide “Opportunity Knocks” scholarships for students who are being displaced by school closures in Philadelphia public schools:

Launched in May 2026, the Opportunity Knocks Scholarship will provide $8,000 annually for 500 students displaced by the Philadelphia school closures, to help families enroll in private schools throughout the city.

This is a clever idea. Janine and Jeff Yass are billionaire philanthropists looking to support education entrepreneurism (mainly in the private sector). By offering these scholarships, they’ll help up to 500 Philadelphia students transition out of one of the 17 public schools currently slated for closure and instead attend a private school they couldn’t otherwise afford. These are potentially vulnerable students. School closures are disruptive and kids can easily get off track socially and academically as they get separated from familiar friends and teachers. It’s a smart move all-around on the Yass’ part.

The Philadelphia public school system is not in a financial position to match their offer. After all, that’s why they’re closing schools!

But you know who could? A new scholarship granting organization could eventually do this for public schools. Thanks to the federal tax credit scholarship program that opens up next year, nonprofits could raise money for “transition scholarships” for students affected by school closures.

Now, this could only happen in Pennsylvania if Governor Josh Shapiro saw the opportunity here and decides to opt his state in to the program. But in states that do opt in, students could use stipends like this to pay for navigators or counselors to help them find new (public) schools, get tutoring, or attend summer or after school programs to make it a smooth transition and meet new people.

I’m probably not being creative enough here, but it could be an interesting use case for some entrepreneurial thinking in the public sector.

Reading List

Michael J. Petrilli: The bipartisan tax credit scholarship opt-in chorus grows louder

NBER: Breaking the Early Bell: Lessons from the First Statewide Mandate on School Start Times

Charlie Barone: It’s Time for Democrats to Stop Fighting the Schools Their Voters Rely On