Voucher programs survived legal challenges in 1999 to flourish in 69 cities; tuition tax-credit initiatives also picked up steam. Some public-school defenders are seeking alternatives to court: 10 school districts in New Jersey are implementing their own state-sponsored choice program, complete with innovations that they say will improve schooling. Even the prospect of real competition has some effect. "1999 was a turning point for the school-choice movement," says Fritz Steiger, president of the Arkansas-based school-choice organization CEO America.