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Nine Lies About School Choice Press Release and School Choice Full Report
School Choice in the District of Columbia
School Choice in the Cleveland, Ohio
School Choice in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin
School choice programs often are labeled "new" or "experimental." In truth, for those with adequate income, parental school choice in America is widespread. These families either can afford private schools or can move to neighborhoods with high-quality public schools. For low-income families, such choices are limited or non-existent.
"Choice is everywhere in American education. It is manifest in the residential choices made by
families [and] in the housing prices found in neighborhoods [and] when families, sometimes at
great financial sacrifice, decide to send their children to private schools. . .
. [I]n all instances,
these choices. . . are strongly shaped by the wealth, ethnicity, and social status of parents and their
neighborhoods."
-- Who Chooses? Who Loses? Culture, Institutions, and the Unequal Effects of School Choice, Teachers
College Press, Columbia University, 1996.
"[M]ore than half of American families now exercise school choice [and] some families have
more choice than others."
-- School Choice and Social Controversy, Politics, Policy and Law, Brookings Institution Press, 1999.
"[T]here are... public schools that middle class parents, including me, would not want their children to attend."
Robert Chase, President, National Education Association, advertisement, October 25, 2000.
"According to a study of 1990 census data published by the Center for Education Reform, the percentage of public school teachers in America's cities who enroll their children in private schools is staggering. Consider these figures: Boston (44.6 percent); Cleveland (39.7 percent); San Francisco (36.7 percent); Chicago (36.3 percent); Philadelphia (35.9 percent); and Pittsburgh (35.4 percent)."
Mark R. Levin, "The president's about-face on school choice," The Washington Times, October 4, 1996, p. A23.
"Half the public school teachers who live in Milwaukee's central city are sending their children to private schools, according to an analysis of 1990 Census data."
"Teachers Choose Private Schools," Milwaukee Journal, November 14, 1993.
"How Members of Congress Practice School Choice," Heritage Foundation, June 2000.
1999 Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa Poll
"A proposal has been made to allow parents to send their school-age children to any public, private or church-related school they choose. For children whose parents choose non-public schools, the government would pay all or part of the tuition. Would you favor this proposal in your state?
Year Nationwide Public school parents nationwide 1994 45 percent 48 percent 1997 49 percent 55 percent 1998 51 percent 56 percent [1999] * [52 percent] [59 percent]
* [According to Phi Delta Kappa, 68 percent of nonwhites surveyed in 1999 favor vouchers that could be used to pay part of tuition at a private or church-related school.]
figures from PDK homepage.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 6, 1999.
Black Population On Vouchers
Support
Oppose
1998
48 percent
40 percent
1999
60 percent
33 percent
General Population On Vouchers
Support
Oppose
1998
42 percent
50 percent
1999
53 percent
40 percent
David A. Bositis, "1999 National Opinion Poll, Education," Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, 1999.
"A Gallup poll shows 68 percent of all minorities support vouchers."
The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, FL), May 25, 1999, p. B-3
"A Washington Post survey discovered that 65 percent of African-Americans with incomes under $50,000 favor using federal dollars to send children to private or religious schools."
The Des Moines Register, May 11, 1999
"Told that there is a proposal to enable families to direct public money to 'the school of their choice, whether public, private or parochial,' 32 percent of the people responding to this survey said they strongly support it and another 16 percent registered support. Another 22 percent expressed neutrality on the issue, rating the idea 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. Only 19 percent said they strongly oppose it, 7 percent also opposing."
Mark Silva, "Poll: Many Support Funding Private Schools," The Miami Herald, August 20, 1998, p. B5.
[A survey of 350 Floridians considered likely voters with a possible 4 percent margin of error, was conducted in July 1998 by a New York-based political consulting and polling firm, Dresner, Wickers and Associates.]
"At least 50 private schools in South Florida now say they would accept state tuition vouchers, compared to only three schools a year ago, a Herald survey has found."
Analisa Nazareno, "Survey: Vouchers Gaining Approval," The Miami Herald, January 30, 2000, p. B1.
"In the last two years, over 20 polls have found growing support for school choice. For example, the left-leaning Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (JCPES) found that support for school vouchers for use in public, private, or parochial schools is strong. A majority of blacks and Hispanics supported school vouchers, especially those most likely to be looking for better educational opportunities - young parents: 87% percent of blacks ages 26-35, and 66.4% of blacks ages 18-25 support vouchers."
Dave DeSchryver, "School Choice Today," The Center for Education Reform, October, 1999.
Fifty-four percent of Ohioans favor giving parents tax money to pay for part or all of their child's elementary and secondary education at the church related, or parochial school of their choice; 44 percent oppose, and two percent don't know.
"Ohio Poll," University of Cincinnati, December 1999, p. 6.
Fifty-two percent of Ohioans favor giving parents tax money to pay for part or all of their child's elementary and secondary education at the private, non-religious school of their choice; 45 percent oppose, and two percent don't know.
"Ohio Poll," University of Cincinnati, December 1999, p. 6.
"The [Cleveland] program received 6,244 applications for 1,700 advertised seats. That's more than three applications for every available seat. Parents clearly want choice."
“Giving Choice a Chance: Cleveland and the Future of School Reform.” The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, September 1998, p. 17.
"Regarding satisfaction with the academic quality of the school, 60 percent of parents of scholarship students were very satisfied, compared with less than 30 percent of parents whose children remained in public schools. On discipline, 55 percent of parents of scholarship students were very satisfied, compared with only 23 percent of parents of students in Cleveland public schools."
Jay P. Greene, William G. Howell and Paul E. Peterson, "Lessons From the Cleveland Scholarship Program," Program on Education Policy and Governance, Harvard University, October 15, 1997.
"A majority of Ohioans support giving parents state money to help pay for public, private or parochial schools of their choice. . . . Sixty-three percent of those surveyed favor the use of school vouchers. Thirty-three percent oppose it, and 4 percent don't know. Among African-Americans, support is 77 percent."
Sandy Theis, "Most Ohians Back School Voucher Plan, Survey Finds," The Cincinnati Enquirer, October 19, 1997, p. B1. [Poll conducted on a random sample of 865 Ohio adults. Margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent.]
"Support for [the pilot voucher program in Cleveland is] high: 63 percent of the entire sample and 76 percent of Cleveland residents were in favor."
Joe Frolik, "Parents Want the Right to Choose Schools," The Plain Dealer, September 28, 1997, p. 1A. [Poll of 1,509 Northeastern Ohioans]
"Most parents surveyed (71.1%) chose their private school because they believed it would provide higher educational standards. Other popular reasons for making the choice: good teachers (70.4%) and safe and orderly classrooms (67.8%)."
1999-2000 Joint Legislative Audit Committee, "An Evaluation: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program," February 2000.
"[A poll conducted for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows that Milwaukeeans] support school choice. They want parents to have a big voice in running schools. They want the basics stressed. They want kids to show they can perform at grade level before they are promoted. They want kids to be taught social values. They want forced busing to end. They want computers in classrooms. . . . The strongest support for the voucher plan came from African-Americans (74% in favor), Hispanics (77%), people with incomes below $11,000 a year (81%) and people with less than high school educations (81%)."
Alan J. Borsuk and Joe Williams, "Choice, voice, basics and values: That's what people demand in their schools, according to poll," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 17, 1999, p. 1.
"In Milwaukee, where 15,000 vouchers are now available for city students, the anti-voucher teachers union tried to frame recent school-board elections as a referendum on vouchers. People for the American Way went to Milwaukee to support the union effort, establishing an anti-voucher phone bank. But all five candidates supported by the teachers union, including three incumbents, lost on April 6, as the elections took on a high national profile in the voucher wars."
Mark Oswald, "School Vouchers, Fraught With Politics, Vouchers Hit Nerves Nationwide," The Santa Fe New Mexican, April 27, 1999, p. A1.
"In responding to [the Milwaukee's Public Policy Forum survey on school choice of 771 taxpayers in Wisconsin and Ohio], 76 percent of respondents favored extending each state's urban pilot program; 83 percent wanted religious schools to participate; and 53 percent believed all children, not only those who are poor, should be able to receive vouchers."
Editorial, "With Vouchers As Part of the Landscape, it's time to Start Sweating the Details," The Plain Dealer, February 21, 1998, p. 10B.
"[S]atisfaction of Choice parents with private schools was just as dramatic as dissatisfaction was with prior public schools."
John F. Witte, "The Milwaukee Voucher Experiment," Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Vol. 20, No. 4, Winter, 1999, p. 237.
"Parents of scholarship users are much more satisfied with their children's education. Nearly half the scholarship users give their school an "A", as compared to only one-eighth of the control group."
Paul E. Peterson, David Myers and William G. Howell, "An Evaluation of the New York City School Choice Scholarship Program: The First Year," Program on Education Policy and Governance, Harvard University, October 1998, p. 2.
"Say hello to Virginia Gilder, who is about to liberate 153 kids from the atrocious Giffen Memorial Elementary School in Albany, N.Y. Gilder, a New York City investor, is offering their parents vouchers to pay for 90 percent of the cost of private school, up to $2,000 a year for each student, for a minimum of three years and a max of six years . . . Virginia Gilder's offer attracted 33 percent of the Giffen student body. Yep, one-third of Giffen parents-given the choice-decided to switch. Not even the uncaring state legislators could ignore that signal."
Susan Lee and Christine Foster, "Trustbuster," Forbes, June 2, 1997, cover story.
"A recent poll conducted in the metro Atlanta area by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed that 52 percent of parents, including 63 percent of minority parents, believe children at failing public schools should be given a state-funded scholarship to attend the public or private school of their choice. As taxpayers, parents resent their children being stuck in schools that never get better."
Staff, "Education Reform: Thinking Too Small," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 2, 1999, p. 8A
"Most studies have found that voucher programs [for low-income parents], whether publicly or privately funded, tend to promote more positive parental or family attitudes toward school, increase parental involvement, and result in increased parental satisfaction."The Condition of Education 2000, U. S. Department of Education.
"Evaluation of the Cleveland Scholarship Program," Indiana University Center for Evaluation, September 2001.
"One indication of the academic effects of school choice on "choosers" is whether they report being more satisfied with their school experience than do "non-choosers." Here the evidence in support of school choice is unambiguous and overwhelmingly positive."
Jay P. Greene, "A Survey of Results from Voucher Experiments: Where We Are and What We Know," Prepared for the Conference on Charter Schools, Vouchers, and Public Education, Sponsored by the Program on Education Policy and Governance, Harvard University, and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, March 8-10, 2000, pg. 4.
"Across the range of school elements, parents of scholarship students tend to be much more satisfied with their child's school than other parents…[S]cholarship recipient parents are more satisfied with the child's teachers, more satisfied with the academic standards at the child's school, more satisfied with order and discipline, [and] more satisfied with social activities at the school…"
Kim K. Metcalf, "Evaluation of the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, 1996-1999," Unpublished Manuscript, Indiana University, 1999, p. 20.
"Parents of voucher recipients were more satisfied with many aspects of their school than were parents of students in Cleveland public schools. Nearly half of the parents in choice schools reported being 'very satisfied' with the academic program of their child's school, as compared to less than 30 percent of public-school parents. Half of the scholarship parents were 'very satisfied' with school safety, as compared to just over 30 percent of public-school parents. With respect to school discipline, about half of the scholarship parents were very satisfied, versus only a quarter of public-school parents. The differences in satisfaction rates were also large when parents were asked about the teachers' skills, the teaching of moral values, and class size."
Paul E. Peterson, William G. Howell, and Jay P. Greene, "An Evaluation of the Cleveland Voucher Program after Two Years," Program on Education Policy and Governance, Harvard University, June 1999, p. 1.
"Parents of scholarship users are much more satisfied with their children's education. Half the scholarship users give their school an 'A', as compared to only one-eighth of the control group. Scholarship families were substantially more satisfied than the control group with every dimension of school life about which they were asked. For example, over half of the scholarship parents were very satisfied with the academic quality of the school, as compared to one-sixth of the control group. Similarly, 58 percent of the scholarship parents expressed the highest satisfaction with 'what's taught in school,' as compared to 18 percent of the control group."
"An Evaluation of the New York City School Choice Scholarship Program: The First Year," Mathematica Policy Research, Washington, D.C., and the Program on Education Policy and Governance, Harvard University, October 1998.
School Choice Facts
compiled by
The Institute For Justiceand
Marquette University, Institute for the
Transformation of Learning, Office of Researchand
Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation