Voucher Choice: Its Merits Refute Opposition
Daniel Downs
April 30, 2007
Florida lawmakers are attempting to create a voucher program for children in foster care and for juvenile delinquents. They believe such a program will help stabilize the lives of those children so that they eventually become productive citizens. According to Stephanie Garry of The Miami Herald,
“Critics have also said that the programs undermine the public school system, both in principle and by taking students with the most involved parents out of the school. They worry that private education isn't held to the uniform standards that public schools are, which is a requirement of the Florida Constitution.”
The argument that voucher funded private schools or charter schools run by private organizations somehow takes away the best students and the most wealthy and motivated families from public schools is baseless. Studies by James Forman and Jay Greene both refute that largely self-serving argument made by those most threatened by school choice--liberal educators and the teacher’s unions. Both scholars point out that society already sorts and creams students by family income. Families live in areas compatible with their socio-economic status. Consequently, they also send their children to the best schools their tax dollars can buy. If they still are not satisfied with their well-funded public schools, they send their kids to private schools. That is what our leaders in Congress do. In a recent survey conducted by the Heritage Foundation, researchers found 41 percent of US Representatives and 46 percent of US Senators said they sent their children to private school. The real embarrassment for opponents of school choice is the number of public school teachers who also send their children to private schools. According to a recent survey by the Fordham Institute, 21.5 percent of public school teachers send their children to private schools, that is 4 percent higher than the rest of the nation. Besides those damning figures, the studies of Forman and Greene confirm minorities and children of single unwed parents are overrepresented in choice programs such as charters and many voucher programs. It must be emphasized that without voucher programs no low-income family would never have the option of sending their kids to a private school. As you can see, creaming is not a real, honest issue. It is a political one raised by professional educators for the sake of money, power and status quo.
The issue of quality raised by critics of Florida’s voucher program is an important one. The same professional critics have negatively influenced public officials in other states like Ohio. The doubt raised by educators that private schools lower standards is one addressed by many school reforms over the years, the most recent being No Child Left Behind. My series on Virtual Public Schooling demonstrated how well charters and virtual charters have been doing compared to public schools. Although I did not include private schools in the comparisons on national proficiency tests, I did review private school test results. I noticed that on average private and parochial school students outperformed students in public schools by 10-20 points. (See the NAEP report Student Achievement in Private Schools). Another study entitled Effects of School Vouchers on Student Test Scores assessed the performance benefits of students who had switched from public schools to voucher funded private schools. The study included students in New York City, Washington, DC, and Dayton, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Utah. Both students who were accepted into the program by lottery and those who were not or who declined the offer were tested the first two years. According to the authors, second year black students scores of on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills increased an average of 6.3 percentiles points. That is only one point lower than the class size reduction experiment conducted in Tennessee. Test results of all other students were of insignificant statistical difference. The only conclusion possible, given the available data from national and state proficiency testing and studies like this one, is voucher-funded private school students attain to at least as high and often higher academic standards. The doubt spread by educator and their union representatives concerning lower standards are as baseless as creaming.
In The Hidden Research Consensus for Choice, Jay Greene raises several other quality issues. How does choice affect non-choosers? How does school choice affect civic values and integration? How does choice affect parent satisfaction?
Greene used a study by Harvard economist Caroline Minter Hoxby to prove more school choices benefits non-choice students. In her study, Hoxby discovered metropolitan areas with more school choices have higher academic performance than areas with fewer choices. Quoting from her research, Greene writes:
“A one standard deviation increase in the available public school district choices results in a 3 percentile improvement in test scores and a 4 percent increase in wages for students upon entering the workforce, all for 17 percent less per capita expenditure. A one standard deviation increase in choices offered by the private sector results in an 8 percentile point improvement in test scores and a 12 percent increase in wages for students upon entering the workforce, without any significant change in per capita expenditure.”
From these results, Hoxby concludes, “If private schools in any area receive sufficient resources to subsidize each student by $1,000, the achievement of public school students rises.”
Whether private schools produce less tolerant and less segregated students is another doubt raised by critics of private (religious) schools. Several studies have been conducted to examine this issue. Questions were asked to test private school student response to racial, religious, and political issues. The studies mentioned by Greene show private schools students more tolerant than those in public schools on all of the issues. In addition to the issue of tolerance, the National Education Longitudinal Study found 59 percent of private school students were in racially mixed classrooms compared to 45 percent of public school students. A study by Greene on racial segregation in lunchrooms found private schools students were less segregated than were students in public schools. Specifically, he discovered that …
“After adjusting for the city, seating restrictions, school size, and student grade level, we found that 79 percent of private school students were in racially mixed groups compared with 43 percent of public school students.”
Greene concludes, “private schools are bastions of neither intolerance nor segregation.” When under private control, “schools appear to promote these civic purposes of education more effectively than government control of schools.”
The study commissioned by the US Chamber of Commerce, Leaders and Laggards, emphasized the need for more school choice. As anyone in business knows, customer satisfaction is one key indicator of future profitability. So is parental satisfaction with their children’s education, but the general attitude of political and education professionals is that parental preference is not very important. Their attitude is one of professional arrogance presuming that because they are the professionals only they know what is best for children. In the past, neither parents nor any other taxpayers, has had any means to evaluate whether they have been getting their money’s worth. The No Child Left Behind program has given the public the means to make that evaluation. Greene also addressed this issue. The result of his study is that a majority of parents consistently say they are much more satisfied with the charter or private schools their children now attend than with the public schools their children previously attended.
Research clearly demonstrates the merits of voucher programs, private schools (as well as charter schools), and refutes the self-serving criticisms of educators and their supporters. The principles of freedom, equity, and fairness demand the facts be applied to the contemporary situation. Therefore, a universal voucher program for all parents and students to attend the school of their choice must be instituted. After which, real economic reform is required not political lip service by way of a higher minimum wage.
“Critics have also said that the programs undermine the public school system, both in principle and by taking students with the most involved parents out of the school. They worry that private education isn't held to the uniform standards that public schools are, which is a requirement of the Florida Constitution.”
The argument that voucher funded private schools or charter schools run by private organizations somehow takes away the best students and the most wealthy and motivated families from public schools is baseless. Studies by James Forman and Jay Greene both refute that largely self-serving argument made by those most threatened by school choice--liberal educators and the teacher’s unions. Both scholars point out that society already sorts and creams students by family income. Families live in areas compatible with their socio-economic status. Consequently, they also send their children to the best schools their tax dollars can buy. If they still are not satisfied with their well-funded public schools, they send their kids to private schools. That is what our leaders in Congress do. In a recent survey conducted by the Heritage Foundation, researchers found 41 percent of US Representatives and 46 percent of US Senators said they sent their children to private school. The real embarrassment for opponents of school choice is the number of public school teachers who also send their children to private schools. According to a recent survey by the Fordham Institute, 21.5 percent of public school teachers send their children to private schools, that is 4 percent higher than the rest of the nation. Besides those damning figures, the studies of Forman and Greene confirm minorities and children of single unwed parents are overrepresented in choice programs such as charters and many voucher programs. It must be emphasized that without voucher programs no low-income family would never have the option of sending their kids to a private school. As you can see, creaming is not a real, honest issue. It is a political one raised by professional educators for the sake of money, power and status quo.
The issue of quality raised by critics of Florida’s voucher program is an important one. The same professional critics have negatively influenced public officials in other states like Ohio. The doubt raised by educators that private schools lower standards is one addressed by many school reforms over the years, the most recent being No Child Left Behind. My series on Virtual Public Schooling demonstrated how well charters and virtual charters have been doing compared to public schools. Although I did not include private schools in the comparisons on national proficiency tests, I did review private school test results. I noticed that on average private and parochial school students outperformed students in public schools by 10-20 points. (See the NAEP report Student Achievement in Private Schools). Another study entitled Effects of School Vouchers on Student Test Scores assessed the performance benefits of students who had switched from public schools to voucher funded private schools. The study included students in New York City, Washington, DC, and Dayton, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Utah. Both students who were accepted into the program by lottery and those who were not or who declined the offer were tested the first two years. According to the authors, second year black students scores of on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills increased an average of 6.3 percentiles points. That is only one point lower than the class size reduction experiment conducted in Tennessee. Test results of all other students were of insignificant statistical difference. The only conclusion possible, given the available data from national and state proficiency testing and studies like this one, is voucher-funded private school students attain to at least as high and often higher academic standards. The doubt spread by educator and their union representatives concerning lower standards are as baseless as creaming.
In The Hidden Research Consensus for Choice, Jay Greene raises several other quality issues. How does choice affect non-choosers? How does school choice affect civic values and integration? How does choice affect parent satisfaction?
Greene used a study by Harvard economist Caroline Minter Hoxby to prove more school choices benefits non-choice students. In her study, Hoxby discovered metropolitan areas with more school choices have higher academic performance than areas with fewer choices. Quoting from her research, Greene writes:
“A one standard deviation increase in the available public school district choices results in a 3 percentile improvement in test scores and a 4 percent increase in wages for students upon entering the workforce, all for 17 percent less per capita expenditure. A one standard deviation increase in choices offered by the private sector results in an 8 percentile point improvement in test scores and a 12 percent increase in wages for students upon entering the workforce, without any significant change in per capita expenditure.”
From these results, Hoxby concludes, “If private schools in any area receive sufficient resources to subsidize each student by $1,000, the achievement of public school students rises.”
Whether private schools produce less tolerant and less segregated students is another doubt raised by critics of private (religious) schools. Several studies have been conducted to examine this issue. Questions were asked to test private school student response to racial, religious, and political issues. The studies mentioned by Greene show private schools students more tolerant than those in public schools on all of the issues. In addition to the issue of tolerance, the National Education Longitudinal Study found 59 percent of private school students were in racially mixed classrooms compared to 45 percent of public school students. A study by Greene on racial segregation in lunchrooms found private schools students were less segregated than were students in public schools. Specifically, he discovered that …
“After adjusting for the city, seating restrictions, school size, and student grade level, we found that 79 percent of private school students were in racially mixed groups compared with 43 percent of public school students.”
Greene concludes, “private schools are bastions of neither intolerance nor segregation.” When under private control, “schools appear to promote these civic purposes of education more effectively than government control of schools.”
The study commissioned by the US Chamber of Commerce, Leaders and Laggards, emphasized the need for more school choice. As anyone in business knows, customer satisfaction is one key indicator of future profitability. So is parental satisfaction with their children’s education, but the general attitude of political and education professionals is that parental preference is not very important. Their attitude is one of professional arrogance presuming that because they are the professionals only they know what is best for children. In the past, neither parents nor any other taxpayers, has had any means to evaluate whether they have been getting their money’s worth. The No Child Left Behind program has given the public the means to make that evaluation. Greene also addressed this issue. The result of his study is that a majority of parents consistently say they are much more satisfied with the charter or private schools their children now attend than with the public schools their children previously attended.
Research clearly demonstrates the merits of voucher programs, private schools (as well as charter schools), and refutes the self-serving criticisms of educators and their supporters. The principles of freedom, equity, and fairness demand the facts be applied to the contemporary situation. Therefore, a universal voucher program for all parents and students to attend the school of their choice must be instituted. After which, real economic reform is required not political lip service by way of a higher minimum wage.
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