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Separating fact from fiction about education.
Informational series for business leaders, policy-makers, community leaders and members of the media.
Fiction:
Using public money for private schooling is a good solution.
What the fiction suggests:
The problems in the U.S. public education system are unfixable.
When people talk about “school choice,” they are generally referring to giving public funds to parents through vouchers or tax credits for tuition at private schools.1 In theory, all schools would improve themselves in order to compete for students and funds. In the few places where such programs have been tried, preliminary results indicate that children’s test scores did not improve.2 In fact, private schools have neither the capacity nor the capability to absorb large numbers of new students.3
In many states (including Texas), families already have public school choice through magnet schools, charter schools, inter-district transfers and intra-district transfers.
Many families with private school vouchers find they do not really have a choice of better schools. This is especially true for low-income and minority families, even in programs targeted to them. Unlike public schools, private schools often require additional money from families for transportation, after-school activities, uniforms, text books, lab fees, meals and more.4 Vouchers usually do not cover full tuition, particularly for the more prestigious schools. Private schools can also refuse students based on academic performance, religion, sex, disability and other factors not specifically excluded by law.5 So in reality, it is the private school that has the choice, not families or students.
Fact:
All students should have equitable access to excellent neighborhood public schools.
What the truth means:
Investing in our neighborhood public schools is investing in our communities.
Giving taxpayer money to private schools drains essential funding from public schools while doing nothing to improve them.6 This makes the task of improving public education much more difficult. Low wealth school districts that already lack instructional materials, library books and trained teachers have even less money to educate the large number of children who remain in neighborhood schools. Abandoning public education will only increase inequality.7 Tax funded vouchers would give a new government subsidy to private schools, while public school districts would have to make up the difference with higher taxes for homeowners and businesses.
Furthermore, private schools are not held to the same standard as public schools. Since they are private, these schools have little or no accountability to taxpayers. If state money is provided to private schools, the state will have to set educational, health and safety standards. Another bureaucracy will be created to enforce the standards, monitor student performance and audit financial records. The hidden costs are enormous. Public funding for private schools is a dangerous gamble with our children’s education and with scarce public education funds.
Research on similar programs in Chile and other countries show that vouchers create a dual system of education – separate and unequal.8 Public funding must focus on improving public education instead of using public money for private school businesses. America needs all of its children to be educated, not just a select few.
"To think of vouchers as a credible solution to problems of public education is to disregard most of America’s students."
– Gerald Tirozzi, U.S. Department of Education, 19979
References
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Rethinking Schools. “Questions and Answers About School Choice,” Selling Out Our Schools: Vouchers, Markets and the Future of Public Education (Milwaukee, Ill.: Rethinking Schools, 1996).
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Texas Association of School Boards, The Legislative Report (Austin: TASB, January 1998).
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Dougherty, J.C. and S.L. Becker. An Analysis of Public-Private School Choice in Texas (Austin: University of Texas, 1995).
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Texas Freedom Network. “School Vouchers: A Dangerous Game With Our Kids and Our Tax Dollars!,” Network News (Austin: TFN, Spring 1997).
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Robledo Montecel, Mar “School Choice: Choices for Whom? Promises and Panaceas,” IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio: Intercultural Development Research Association, August 1994).
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Cortez, Albert. “Full Pockets, Empty Promises,” IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio: Intercultural Development Research Association, May 1998).
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Rethinking Schools (see above).
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Carnoy, Martin. “Lessons of Chile’s Voucher Reform Movement,” Selling Out Our Schools: Vouchers, Markets and the Future of Public Education (Milwaukee, Ill.: Rethinking Schools, 1996).
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Tirozzi, Gerald. “Vouchers: A Questionable Answer to an Unasked Question” (U.S. Department of Education, April 23, 1997).
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Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll. Reprinted in Report from the Capitol (Washington, D.C.: Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, 1998).
© 1998.
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