School choice

School choice, sometimes called public choice, describes any one of several forms of publicly-funded alternative education program that allows students to choose to attend any of various participating private and public schools, usually based on a system of vouchers, tax credits, or scholarships. These programs are generally intended to give parents more input in which primary and secondary schools their children attend. In the United States, school choice sometimes refers to the social movement instrumental in making these programs possible. Among the movement organizers' hopes is that increased choice will allow impoverished families to choose other options than public schools, which are considered by many to be failing in many, mainly urban areas. It is hoped that this will create competition between schools for education dollars, which will give public schools an incentive to perform better than they have in the past.

Various school choice advocacy groups differ in the extent to which they support privatization. Some do not advocate privatization at all, wishing only to allow parents greater choice among different public schools within a district. Others seek to grant parents the option of either spending vouchers at a privately-run school or of obtaining tax credits for the same. Along these lines, some argue that funding should be tied to the student, not the district, and the student should be able to take his education voucher to any school, thus allowing more freedom and personalization in the publicly-run school system.

Support

The proponents of this idea argue that if parents were given a choice about where public funding should go, they would pick the better schools and the under-performing schools would have to improve or lose their funding. They also claim that school choice is a good way to improve publicly-run education at low cost, by forcing schools to perform more efficiently.

Another argument is based on cost-effectiveness. Moe and the CATO Institute cite public statistics for the U.S. costs and quality of education that show privately-run education usually costs between one quarter and one half of publicly-run education while giving superior outcomes. Boston schools spend US$7,300 per enrollee each year, Washington D.C. US$9,500, and New York City, $7,350. These figures are larger than all but the most expensive private schools. Critics counter that figures are the kind of out-of-context bait used to lure the school choice crowd, because the same politicians who promote school choice are responsible for school purchases being so expensive, as their rules tend to plant obstacles suggested by powerful political influencers, that practically forces the school to take the expensive route.

In areas with these expenditures, many publicly-run schools are unaccredited, while privately-run schools are fully accredited in order to retain students and avoid regulatory difficulties. In many large publicly-run school districts, administrators do not publicize accreditation for this reason.

Still others argue that since children from impoverished families almost exclusively attend public schools, a voucher system would allow these students to opt out of bad schools and acquire a better education, thereby granting the decision-making power to students and their parents, not school adminstators.

Due to the expanded market and subsequent demand for privately-run schooling, a myriad schools of varying selectivity and philosophies would arise to meet this demand, providing greater choice than the publicly-run school system. The choice of schools would be analogous to the choice of food products in a supermarket, only limited by physical constraints and not government budgets.

Furthermore, the decentralization or localization of power endemic to privately-run schooling would facilitate greater parent teacher interaction, as the teachers would be accountable to parents, not to a distant city or state board. A close-knit community of students, parents, and faculty unified by a common ideal would promote involvement among the relevant parties. Effectively, proponents of school choice argue, vouchers would confer the benefits of privately-run schooling on a wide swath of the population while lessening, or even negating the cost.

Criticism

Some critics against the idea say that if parents are given a choice, it is likely they will pick the school their child is attending in attempts to improve it. Others think better schools could become as overcrowded public schools are now if most parents send their kids there, making it unfair to local parents of the better school. Supporters of school choice point out that it is unlikely this will happen since it is the publicly-run schools which are currently the sole providers of education to the poor. Choice, they argue, would mean that there would be reduced overcrowding since students would be spread out over the schools that best meet their learning styles and needs.

Even if privately-run schools are not allowed to participate in a school choice program, critics note, this might prompt a two-tiered publicly-run education system, in which those students with motivated parents leave for good schools, while other students languish. Critics tend to prefer the current two-tiered system which educates our white middle classes, but not our minorities in the lower classes. Supporters often point out what they see as hypocrisy in critics who claim that they fear a two-tiered system due to the languishing of some students, since they tend to prefer the current system, which forces all students to languish, regardless of parental concern. Supporters of school choice also sometimes point out that those who usually give this argument are those who would financially benefit from maintaining the current system: public school teachers unions.

Critics also ask how the poorer parents will get their kids to a school of their choice without a public school bus system? Many parents start work around that time in the morning, and driving their children to a school farther away might not fit into busy work schedules. Supporters of school choice point out that most schools have transportation available and if they do not, the parent is left in the same situtation as before — without a choice. The difference, they argue is the problem of a lack of choice after the implementation of school choice programs (a lack of transportation) is much more easily fixed than the current problem (being trapped in a failing school).

Critics also ask, if business is so successful in running schools without government help, why did government need to create public schools in the first place? Supporters of school choice would argue that the answer is quite simple: not everyone could afford it. They contend that school choice would fix this problem. Some critics disagree, but there is generally no consensus on why they do so.

Critics often propose a different solution that reserves the current public school monopoly and does not require public schools to earn their large sums of money. They say if incentive is what is needed, it already exists: the school board is elected by direct popular vote. They say that instead of giving people a choice in education, they should take more time out of their lives to lobby the school board for needed changes and hope that the monopoly serves them better in the future. Supporters of school choice contend that although this is an option, it should not be the only option and point out that even with this check and balance, the majority of urban schools are still failing.

Others have added, if competition is better, then why are only a few businesses in a city highly successful, while many others languish. many supporters feel that this further indicates the lack of basic understanding that those who are teaching our children actually have. The answer to why certain businesses do better than others, supporters say, is simple: people choose the product or service that best meets their needs at the best price. The result is better quality and service, which is the desired result from school choice as well.

A common argument against school choice is that there would not enough private schools in poor areas to meet the demand once the urban poor are given an opportunity to break out of the failing school system. School choice supporters counter that while there are few private schools for the urban poor, this would be fixed when the means to attend private school are provided to the poor. Many say it is obvious that one would not open a private school targeted to students whose parents cannot afford such a school. Providing the financial means to these parents would increase the proliferation of private schools that are not targeted solely at the white middle and upper classes, who can usually afford it. Although supporters do contend that school choice won't solve the entire problem, and point out that legislation rarely if ever is perfect, the question they pose is, whether it is better than the alternative.

Another concern arises when converting schools into businesses that struggle against each other: what happens when one of them goes "out of business" or bankrupt? Supporters point out that the only way a school would go out of business is if the parents choose to not send their children there and point out that this is most likely to happen to the failing urban public schools.

There are several critics who oppose the idea for school choice because of possible conflict with the separation of church and state. The supreme court disagrees with this concern and in 2002 ruled in favor of school choice in the case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 5-4 vote that an Ohio vouchers program was Constitutional. The justices cited the private choice made by the parents and affirmed that the ultimate purpose (improving elementary education) was secular.

Some paranoid critics believe that when schools are in bad shape, it is partly because of some lawmakers who (they claim) are against public schools, and not because of the day to day workings of the public school bureaucracy. These critics claim that their failure is due to politicians who have increased the failing of public schools. Supporters are often puzzled at this type of blame shifting since public schools have more money per student than the vast majority of private schools and yet still consistently fail to teach basic reading and math skills, despite almost yearly funding increases. School choice opponents often say that parents should observe that there are good teachers, mediocre ones, and awful ones just as there are excellent bosses, mediocre bosses and awful bosses. The difference, supporters point out, is that one, awful employees can be fired, while awful tenured teachers cannot and, two, a person who faces an awful boss or employee can choose to go somewhere else because our marketplace provides choices. School choice proponents are often puzzled at the fear the many opponents have to simply give students that kind of choice

International overview

France

The French government subsidizes most private primary and secondary schools, including those affiliated with religious denominations, under contracts stipulating that education must follow the same curriculum as public schools and that schools cannot discriminate on grounds of religion or force pupils to attend religion classes.

This system of école libre (Free Schooling) is mostly used not for religious reasons, but for practical reasons (private schools may offer more services, such as after-class tutoring) as well as the desire of parents living in disenfranchised areas to send their children away from the local schools, where they perceive that the youth are too prone to delinquence or have too many difficulties keeping up with schooling requirements that the educational content is bound to suffer. The threatened repealing of that status in the 1980s triggered mass street demonstrations in favor of the status.

United States

School choice in America comes in a few different forms. The different options could be put into these categories: vouchers, tax credits, charter schools, magnet schools and even home schooling.

Vouchers

When the government pays tuition to a private school on behalf of the parents, this is usually referred to as a voucher. Vouchers currently exist in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Florida, and, most recently, Utah, Colorado, and the District of Columbia[1]. The largest and oldest Voucher program is in Milwaukee. Started in 1990, and expanded in 1995, it currently allows no more that 15% the district's public school enrollment to use vouchers. As of 2005 over 14,000 students use vouchers and they are nearing the 15% cap [2]. It should be noted that school vouchers are legally controversial in some states; in 2005 the Florida Supreme Court found that school vouchers were illegal under the Florida constiution.

In the U.S., the legal and moral precedents for vouchers may have been set by the G.I. bill, which includes a voucher program for university-level education of veterans. The G.I. bill permits veterans to take their educational benefits at religious schools, an extremely divisive issue when applied to primary and secondary schools.

In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002), the Supreme Court of the United States held that school vouchers could be used to pay for education in sectarian schools without violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. As a result, states are basically free to enact voucher programs that provide funding for any school of the parent's choosing.

The Court has not decided, however, whether states can provide vouchers for secular schools only, excluding sectarian schools. Proponents of funding for parochial schools argue that such an exclusion would violate the free exercise clause. However, in Locke v. Davey, 540 U.S. 712 (2004), the Court held that states could exclude majors in "devotional theology" from an otherwise generally available college scholarship. The Court has not indicated, however, whether this holding extends to the public school context, and it may well be limited to the context of individuals training to enter the ministry.

Tuition tax credits

A tuition tax credit is similar to most other familiar tax credits. Certain states allow individuals and/or businesses to deduct a certain amount of their income taxes to donate to education. Depending on the program, these donations can either go to a public school or to a School Tuition Organization (STO), or both. The donations that go to public schools are often used to help pay for after-school programs, schools trips, or school supplies. The donations that go to School Tuition Organizations are used by the STO to create scholarships that are then given to students. These programs currently exist in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Pennsylvania[3].

Arizona has probably the most well known and fastest growing tax credit program. In the Arizona School Tuition Organization Tax Credit program individuals can deduct up to $500 and couples filing joint returns can deduct up to $625. About 20,000 children received scholarships in the 2003-2004 school year. And, since the program has started in 1998, over 77,000 scholarships have been granted [4] [5].

Charter schools

Charter schools are public schools with more relaxed rules and regulations. These relaxed rules tend to deal with things like Teacher Union contracts and state curriculum. The majority of states (and the District of Columbia) have Charter School laws. Minnesota was the first state to have a charter school law and the first charter school in the United States, City Academy, opened in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1992 [6].

In places like Dayton, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, and Washington, D.C., more than 14% of public school students attend charter schools [7]. Of the states, Arizona has the most charter schools per capita with over 20% of their public schools being charter schools.

Charter Schools can also come in the form of Cyber Charters. Cyber charter schools deliver the majority of their instruction over the internet instead of in a school building. And, like charter schools, they are public schools, but free of many of the rules and regulations that public schools must follow.

Magnet schools

Magnet schools are public schools that often have a specialized function like science, technology or art. These magnet schools, unlike charter schools, are not open to all children. Much like many private schools, the students must test into the school.

Home education

When a child is educated at home, or is having his education instructed or directed primarily by a parent, then this is usually referred to as Home Education or Home Schooling. Home Education has obviously been around for a very long time, but in the last 20 years the number of children being educated at home has grown tremendously. The laws relevant to Home Education differ throughout the country. In some states the parent simply needs to notify the state that the child will be educated at home. In other states the parents are not free to educate at home unless at least one parent is a certified teacher and yearly progress reports are reviewed by the state. According to the Federal Government, about 1.1 million children were Home Educated in 2003.[8]

Uncategorized School Choice

There are still some examples that do not fit well in any of the previously mentioned categories. One such example is in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In Edmonton each school principal has near total control of the school budget. That is, the principal does not need to go through some central bureaucracy to get things built or changed. This gives each school and principle more autonomy. This might be considered similar to charter schools, but these are traditional public schools with very traditional budgeting schemes.

More information on school choice in the United States can be found at:

The ABCs of School Choice (pdf) from the Friedman Foundation
Frequently Asked Questions from School Choice Indiana
School Reform News - August 2001 edition (pdf) from The Heartland Institute
School Reform News also from The Heartland Institute

POV versus NPOV: Traditionally, school choice advocates have been on the right and school choice detractors have been on the left. So, those looking to find information to support school choice should look to these think tanks:

Those looking for information to oppose school choice should look here:

Some notes: Vouchers also exist in Vermont and Maine and have been in place since the 1800s. These programs are very small and serve only those students that live in rural areas that do not have a public school. Also, there are privately-funded voucher programs around the country. The two largest are the Children's Educational Opportunity (CEO) Foundation and the Children's Scholarship Fund.

Canada

Ontario is the only large province in Canada with no school choice programs. In 2003, the Conservative government introduced a tax credit worth up to 50% of tuition at any independent school in Ontario. However, the tax credit was retroactively cancelled by the subsequent Liberal government. Currently there are over 800 independent schools in Ontario. The only school choice program available to parents who wish to send their children to an independent school is a privately funded program called Children First, a program of The Fraser Institute.

For more information on school choice in Ontario:

Chile

In Chile, there is a voucher system in which the state pays private schools directly, based on average attendance. These schools show consistently better results in standardized testing than public schools, with 35% of all students attending such schools.

Regarding vouchers in Chile, researchers (Dr. Martin Carnoy of Stanford, Patrick J. McEwan among others) have found that when controls for the student's background (parental income and education) are introduced, the difference in performance between public and private subsectors is not significant. Alejandra Mizala (University of Chile) and Pilar Romaguera (University of Chile) have found that there is greater variation within each subsector than between the two.

Resources

School Choice: Doing it the Right Way, a report from the Brookings Institution

External links