The school choice debate has generated an array of competing claims and information. Many reporters seeking objective information have concluded that the evidence is "inconclusive," "mixed," or "contradictory."

        New information suggests that a reassessment of that view is in order. For example, there is an emerging consensus among several scholars suggesting that school choice experiments have had largely positive effects.

        The following material provides basic background information and a brief overview of recent scholarly evidence. It will enable interested reporters to obtain and review the cited documents, contact the various authors, and draw their own conclusions.

-- Howard L. Fuller, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Education
Founder and Director, Institute for the Transformation of Learning
Presented at the Education Writers Association National Convention
Atlanta, Georgia, April 2000

        While school choice has been debated theoretically for decades, actual programs were not enacted until the 1990s. Strong parent interest has fueled growth in tax-supported and privately financed programs. A decade ago, there were only 300 tax-supported voucher students, all in Milwaukee. Today, nearly 20,000 students — in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Florida — participate in such programs. More than 60,000 other students use private K-12 scholarships, in more than 75 programs, across the country.

        Most school choice students are from low-income, single parent families. They are racially and ethnically diverse. Most were low academic achievers in public school.

        Tax-supported voucher students. The Milwaukee and Cleveland programs enroll more than 15,000 students in this category. The table below describes the family income of these students and their racial and ethnic background.

Demographic Characteristics of Privately Supported Voucher Students in Five Large Programs

        State supreme courts in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Arizona have upheld programs providing tax support for students at private and religious schools. In contrast, an Ohio federal court and a state trial court in Florida have declared such programs unconstitutional. The constitutionality of the Ohio program is being considered by the Supreme Court in February 2002. The Florida program has survived constitutional challenge, but opponents continue to pursue the issue in the courts, charging that the program violates the religious establishment clause of the state's constitution.  

        Several constitutional experts interpret court decisions in recent years as suggesting that educational assistance programs are constitutional if they treat religious and nonreligious options neutrally and if funds are directed by the private choices of individual parents.

        Jay P. Greene, a senior fellow at The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, finds evidence of an emerging scholarly consensus. In March, 2000, Greene presented his findings (“A Survey of Results from Voucher Experiments: Where We Are and What We Know”) to a national conference of scholars at Harvard University.

        According to Greene, if "one only examined the competing interest group and research community spin on the various evaluations, instead of reading the evaluations themselves, one might easily miss the level of positive consensus that exists."

        A noteworthy example cited by Greene involves John Witte, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Witte was the official evaluator of the Milwaukee program from 1990 to 1995. While some observers have characterized Witte’s findings as negative, an actual reading of his reports reveals a majority of positive findings. In a new book, Witte effectively confirms this interpretation. Citing his Milwaukee research, he says:

"Choice can be a useful tool to aid families and educators in inner city and poor communities where education has been a struggle for several generations... If programs are devised correctly, they can provide meaningful educational choices to families that now do not have such choices."

        Greene cites Witte and a range of other evaluators to document that:

“…[A]mong the researchers who have collected and analyzed the data…on…the effects of school choice…there is largely agreement…that these programs are generally positive in their effects and ought to be continued if not expanded.”

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An Evaluation of the Florida A-Plus Accountability and School Choice Program, by Jay P. Greene, February 2001

More Than Grades: How Choice Boosts Parental Involvement and Benefits Children, by Philip Vassallo, Cato Policy Analysis, The Cato Institute, October 26, 2000

Test-Score Effects of School Vouchers in Dayton, Ohio, New York City, and Washington D.C.: Evidence from Randomized Field Trials by William G. Howell, Patrick J. Wolf, Paul E. Peterson and David E. Campbell, August 2000

The Effect of School Vouchers on Student Achievement: A Response to Critics, by William G. Howell, Patrick J. Wolf, Paul E. Peterson and David E. Campbell, August 2000

School Choice in New York City After Two Years: An Evaluation of the School Choice Scholarships Program, by David Myers, Paul E. Peterson, David Mayer, Julia Chou and William G. Howell, August 2000

Civic Report 12, The Effect of School Choice: An Evaluation of the Charlotte Children's Scholarship Fund Program, by Jay P. Greene, August 2000

COMPETING TO WIN: How Florida's A+ Plan Has Triggered Public School Reform, by Carol Innerst, April 2000

“The Milwaukee Voucher Experiment,” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Winter 1999, John Witte (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Email: witte@lafollette.wisc.edu.

“School Choice in Dayton, Ohio.: An Evaluation After One Year,”. February 2000, Peterson, William Howell (Stanford University), Patrick Wolf (Georgetown University), Website: http://data.fas.harvard.edu/pepg/, Email: ppeterso@latte.harvard.edu, whowell@leland.stanford.edu, wolfp@gunet.georgetown.edu.

“Evaluation of the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, 1996- 1999,” September 1999, Kim Metcalf (Indiana Center for Evaluation), Email: kmetcalf@indiana.edu

For a more complete listing of school choice research, see CER's School Choice Research Library