Limited Vision

For the longest time public schools in this country have held a near monopoly on who it is that gets to educate our children. But recently, primarily in Republican-led states, public funds have been applied to non-public learning organizations, like private schools.

Recently, Mark Lieberman, a reporter for EducationWeek, provided an analysis of what we currently know about private school performance after receiving students whose families applied and received a public voucher or education savings account to finance a private school education.

Lieberman writes,

“Programs that offer families public funds to spend on private education expenses are becoming bigger, more common, and more complex.”

“Debates about these programs are dominated by claims from supporters and opponents, many of which leave little room for nuance. Academic research can help separate hype from reality – but figuring out what the research actually says can be a challenge even for the researchers themselves, not to mention advocates, critics, policymakers, and journalists who cite studies in their work.”

“More than half of states now have at least one private school choice program, according to Education Week’s private school choice tracker. Many have several. Twelve have programs that currently or eventually will accept applications from all students in the state.”

“This school year, for the first time ever, more than 1 million of the nation’s 50 million K-12 children took advantage of private school choice, according to the nonprofit EdChoice, a leading advocate.”

“A closer look at the private school choice literature reveals some consistent findings as well as a number of gaps in understanding. That’s in part because measuring the effects of private school choice on outcomes like student-test scores is no easy task.”

“Many states either don’t require students accepting funds from these programs to participate in state exams that public school students take, or they don’t report test-score data from private schools. Researchers often depend on state education departments to supply data suitable for rigorous analysis, but not all states are eager to help. And many private school curricula differ from public schools, making apples-to-apples comparisons of test scores less meaningful.”

“Meanwhile, assessing the research consensus can be challenging due to the proliferation of studies from advocates of private school choice, which tend to offer a rosier view of these programs than truly independent analysts do.”

“With those caveats in mind, here’s a look at what we know – and don’t yet know – about private school choice.”

“What we know about the academic achievement of students using private school choice:

Studies that examine the early days of private school choice programs, from the 2000s, show that participating students – largely low-income students from urban areas – modestly outperformed their public school peers on standardized tests. More recent peer-reviewed studies, looking at programs that are newer and larger, have shown the opposite.”

…

“How competition from private school choice affects public schools:

A handful of studies have largely reached the same conclusion: Students who enroll in private school choice programs aren’t substantially more or less likely to attend college than their peers in public schools. That said, several studies suggest a more competitive education marketplace improves public school students’ academic performance.”

…

“Who participates in private school programs?:

So far, it appears the primary beneficiaries of universal private school choice programs in particular are wealthier families, who were typically excluded when eligibility for vouchers and education savings accounts was geared toward lower-income students and students with disabilities. Most private school choice recipients in the newer programs were already in private school prior to accepting state funds, according to state data and researchers.”

…

“What private schools do when students qualify for public funds:

Early evidence from universal programs suggests that private schools tend to raise tuition when states expand eligibility for vouchers and ESAs [education savings accounts] to all students. Some advocates claim that private schools poach the most gifted students from public schools, but researchers studying that phenomenon have yet to find substantial evidence.”

…

“What we still don’t know about private school choice:

Must of the private school choice research so far has examined voucher programs, which give parents money to spend on private school tuition. And in general, much of the research has primarily used data from the earlier, narrowly targeted set of private-school choice programs, rather than the more expansive programs that have swept conservative states legislatures in the last three years.”

“Fewer studies have examined the newer iteration of private school choice known as ‘education savings accounts,’ which can be spent on a wider range of private education expenses, including for textbooks, transportation, and materials for home schooling.”

“Other topics that appear ripe for more analysis include the ripple effects of private school choice on phenomenon like racial and economic school segregation; state funding for public schools; and enrollment trends in public schools.”

And, more research is needed on out of school (whether it be public or private) learning organizations like home schooling, microschools, and other types of learning pods. How many young learners and their families have chosen this route to learn by? How are these young learners doing when it comes to reading, writing, and problem-solving abilities? How are the young learners doing when it comes to “learning how to learn” themselves? In those states that allow out of school learning to be financed by vouchers or ESAs, what do the cost/benefit analyses say about this type of learning compared to traditional school-centered education?

Right now, this country has limited itself if public money can only be used in two places – public school or private school. It’s time to allow families – especially those families who have not seen their children successful in traditional schools, whether they be public or private – choice about how their young learners learn, when their young learners learn, and what their young learners learn.

Til tomorrow. SVB