School choice: Turning the tide....

Critics of school choice incessantly argue that vouchers will sap vital money from public schools and that students' learning will suffer. They're wrong on both counts, according to two recent studies.
With regard to school funding, it's assumed that even superior public schools will suffer if parents pull their kids. That's not quite accurate, according to Susan Aud, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who examined 11 school voucher programs in eight states.

Between 1990 and 2006, school choice actually saved taxpayers $444 million. That's because vouchers and/or scholarships are less expensive than public schools' per pupil costs.

Take Florida's corporate scholarship tax-credit program. Since 2002, it cost $11.7 million but saved school districts $53 million.


And civic values, the forte of a public school education? Not necessarily, says Professor Patrick Wolf of the University of Arkansas. His research found schools that parents choose equal or excel public schools in teaching basic civic values.
Both studies add to the growing body of research that finds higher levels of parental satisfaction with school choice.

Of course, any study is open to debate. But as school choice expands nationally, where are the studies showing the quantifiable detriments? Some shopworn shibboleths are increasingly losing ground.

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