ABCs of School Choice: Point | Counterpoint

The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) released a one-page document titled “The ABCs of School Choice,” which casts aspersions on school choice policies and attempts to persuade people to oppose such policies. We believe that document misrepresents the facts about school choice and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how school choice policies work. In this document, we seek to address each of the claims made by the MAIS in “The ABCs of School Choice.”  

First, let us explain what we mean by school choice and why we support it. 

By school choice, we mean this: we believe parents should be able to direct taxpayer funds to pay for their child’s education at their assigned public school, a different public school, a charter public school, or a private school, whichever best meets their needs. We believe every child is different – they learn and thrive in different ways – and no one type of school can serve every single student well. Some students learn better in smaller class sizes or with hands on learning, while others may seek relief from bullying or a school that more closely aligns with their family’s values. Some might seek a smaller school, where there will be more opportunities, including more leadership opportunities in student activities, than in large schools. 

Consequently, we believe a variety of educational options should be available – and financially accessible – to families so every student can find the education that works best for them and enables them to reach their full potential.  At its core, school choice gives families more options to choose from and thus creates what should be healthy competition among schools. The result is a K-12 education environment that is radically focused on meeting the needs of students, not on meeting the needs of a system. We believe families, students, and communities will benefit from such an environment, and evidence from across the country supports that belief. We also believe both public and private schools will benefit from a more open and competitive education market. 

We support school choice because we believe it provides the best opportunities for students and schools to excel. A one-size-fits-all approach will not best equip all students with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful after graduation. Especially with technology advancing so quickly, it makes sense to provide options in education, just as there are options for most everything else in America, where various teaching/learning strategies and various course offerings can be focused on for the different needs of students. Expecting all schools, especially small schools, to offer all options – and to be good at them all – is unrealistic. 

Giving all students the opportunity to receive an education that meets their needs is our goal, and while school choice is not the only policy needed to achieve that end, we believe it will be the most effective.  

 

The Arguments 

MAIS Point: School choice is a redistribution of wealth. “‘School Choice’ cannot exist without the Government taking money from a person who earned it and giving it to a person who didn’t.” 

Empower Response: This “wealth redistribution” already exists – it was actually established with the creation of public schools for all students. Most Mississippians, including parents whose children attend private school today, pay taxes to subsidize public schools they don’t use.  

No serious person is debating whether taxes should be collected for the purpose of education – that issue is settled – but much debate is occurring about how best to use the dollars collected through taxes to ensure all children, not just a few, receive a great education. 

School choice allows parents to redirect their tax dollars to the school that best meets their child’s needs. Through school choice policies, state funds that would otherwise be used to pay for a child’s education in public school are able to be used in a way that best meets that particular child’s needs. This is no more a redistribution of wealth than the funding of public schools. Rather, school choice puts parents in control of how their tax dollars are spent on their child’s education.   

MAIS Point: It is not the responsibility of the government to ensure every student has the opportunity to attend any school they want. “‘School Choice’ assumes the idea that the Government should provide the good things people want… Even the Bill of Rights does not mean that the Government is obligated to buy every citizen whatever printing press, place to assemble, or gun he wants… simply because those things are rights.” 

Empower Response:  Regardless of one’s opinion on whether expectations of government are too expansive or what the role of the federal government in education should be, the fact is that all states, including Mississippi, chose to include the provision of education in their state constitutions as a proper function of government. So, the question of whether the state government should provide an education to all children was settled long ago. The state government affords all students – black, white, male, female, rich, and poor – access to education.  

MAIS is correct that school choice is not a right guaranteed by the United States Constitution, but neither are free public schools. Yet, those exist today in large part because of the commitment of previous generations to the education of America’s children. They recognized the importance of an educated citizenry, and they acted to ensure that all students, not just the wealthy and the privileged, had access to an education. Similarly, we must act now to ensure that all Mississippi children have access to the right education that best prepares them for a successful and productive future.  

Importantly, citizens generally expect the government to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. In doing so, we believe the government should carefully weigh “return on investment” when considering how taxpayer dollars are spent. School choice has a demonstrated history of positive impacts on both students and taxpayers, so we believe it is a sound investment of government resources. 

Research shows that school choice benefits all students – not just those who participate in school choice programs – by creating competition in the education marketplace. Competition, while uncomfortable for the competitors, is what drives quality and innovation, whether that is for products or services, including education. That’s not a criticism of the intent of school leaders, and certainly not of teachers who are doing their best to meet the needs of the children in their classes; it is an acknowledgement of human nature.  

Further, many high-quality studies have found that school choice policies lead to more employment, lower crime, increased civic participation, greater parent satisfaction, and even cost savings for taxpayers. Consequently, we believe school choice provides tremendous return on investment and is a wise use of taxpayer dollars.   

MAIS Point: Bureaucratic oversight will limit the pool of choices. “‘School Choice’ cannot exist without the bureaucrats defining the acceptable pool of choices.” 

Empower Response: By empowering parents to take charge of their child’s education, school choice policies enable parents to expand the pool of choices for their child. In reality, the government already restricts the pool of choices by limiting many families to one option for their education: their assigned local public school. Even if the government restricted the pool of choices in a school choice program, many families would still have more education options to choose from than they do today. And both students and schools would be better off for it.   

We often hear concerns about government “creep” in school choice programs. Many private school leaders are concerned that such programs will come with government strings attached. If the point being made by MAIS is that the pool of schools will be limited because of various requirements that may be placed on participating schools, we agree this is something to guard against. When creating these programs, we believe government should not intervene in how private schools operate, and we advocate strongly for participating schools to be given maximum freedom to provide for the educational needs of students. Any legislation supported by Empower Mississippi would protect private schools’ independence and autonomy, including in such things as admission policies, curricula, and hiring practices.  

However, we believe that by funding individual students, rather than the government providing direct funding to schools, many of those concerns are naturally remedied.  

Further, participation in school choice programs is optional. School choice policies do not compel a school to enroll a student they do not believe they are best suited to serve; rather, they offer families the opportunity explore a variety of educational options that many would be unable to afford otherwise, and they offer schools the ability to serve students who normally would not be able to afford the tuition. 

MAIS Point: School choice is too expensive. “‘School Choice’ cannot exist without driving up taxes or cutting other parts of the budget to avoid deficits.”  

Empower Response: Research consistently shows that private school choice programs generate positive fiscal benefits for taxpayers. In fact, EdChoice points out that 69 of 75 studies on the fiscal impacts of such programs found positive effects. Only 5 of those (7%) found any negative effects.  

To better understand this point, it is important to note that public education funding is derived from federal, state, and local governments. Because school choice policies generally allow only some of the education dollars to follow the student, taxpayers typically see a net-positive financial effect when a student leaves public school for private school. This is because only the state portion of those dollars is provided to the child and because the state often spends more to educate a child in public school than the cost of tuition at most private schools.  

Having said that, it is true that broad universal school choice policies could result in an initial increase in education spending. Since the state does not currently provide financial support for families who already attend private school, it will incur new costs when making those students eligible for private school choice programs. One recent report estimates Mississippi would likely see a cost increase between $64.8 million and $74.7 million (between 2% and 2.5% of current state spending on public schools) if the state were to make every student eligible for private school choice in year one of such a program. Much higher estimates have been made, including by MAIS in their “ABCs of School Choice” document, but those estimates assume every current private school student would take advantage of the program, which is highly unlikely. Experience in other states shows an actual percentage closer to 21% of private school students who use the program in its first year.  

These new costs may be mitigated in a number of ways, including: 

• Phasing in the program over several years, with those who need the assistance most being eligible first; 

• Setting participation “caps” in early years; and/or 

• Using a lower percentage of state funding for private school choice than is allocated for that student if he or she attended a public school. Savings realized from public school students transferring to private schools would help offset new spending for existing private school students in this scenario.  

For us, the primary reason we support school choice is not the positive financial effect these programs often have on states, it is the benefit to students and families.  

Benjamin Franklin once remarked, “An investment in education yields the greatest returns.” We view school choice as an investment in our children’s future and believe it will yield tremendous returns.  

 

Conclusion 

For all its attempts at fearmongering and philosophical persuasion, the MAIS “ABCs of School Choice” is surprisingly light on research or evidence in support of its conclusions. Conversely, we invite you to dive into this issue more deeply by exploring a different version of “ABCs of School Choice” along with “123s of School Choice” released annually by EdChoice, which support many of the assertions and assumptions we make here about the benefits of school choice policies. Don’t take our word for it – go see what national experts on this issue have to say.  

We believe, and the evidence supports, that school choice: 

• Benefits students by offering more educational opportunities. Finding the right educational “fit” will help them reach their full potential.  

• Benefits teachers by creating more opportunities in a more competitive education system. The demand for teachers doesn’t go away when school choice is made available. Instead, schools will be competing for the best teachers to best position themselves to recruit students, and teachers are more empowered to find a school that matches his or her moral, philosophical, administrative, teaching style, or religious preferences.  

• Benefits families by allowing them to redirect tax dollars to the school that best meets the needs of their child. This is particularly impactful for low- and middle-income families who have been hit hard by inflation and increases in the cost of living in recent years. 

• Benefits public schools by making them more student-focused in order to remain competitive. Often, public schools find that they have smaller classroom sizes and more per-student-funding (because local funds do not follow the student; they stay in public schools) for those students who choose to remain in public schools. 

• Benefits private schools by allowing them to serve students who normally would not be able to afford the tuition.  

• Benefits businesses and employers by equipping more students with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in the workforce.  

• Benefits communities, not only by having a more educated citizenry, but also because it can enhance recruitment of new businesses and recruitment of employees for existing businesses if the business owners can let their potential employees know they can live where they desire and still choose the education setting that best meets their children’s needs. 

• Benefits taxpayers by providing a tremendous return on investment, including increased employment, decreased crime, and, in many cases, cost savings.