The results are in: School choice works

By Alexander William Salter. He is a Professor of Economics at Texas Tech University. Excerpts:

"So, does school choice improve education outcomes for students enrolled in these programs? Education scholars M. Danish Shakeel, Kaitlin P. Anderson, and Patrick J. Wolf argue the answer is yes. They surveyed 21 randomized controlled trials of voucher programs. Importantly, each one of those studies is its own experiment. Across the 21 experiments, they find “moderate evidence of positive achievement impacts of private school vouchers.” 

But that’s not all. There’s also evidence that school choice improves education outcomes even within district schools. School choice programs force district schools to compete for students. They have to step up their game to keep up with private schools and charter schools that attract choice-empowered students, and they often do. 

Because entire school districts can’t be randomly assigned to a treatment or control group, the studies exploring the link between school choice and district-school outcomes are not true experiments. But the research still uses careful controls to assess causality. Out of 28 studies that explore this question, 25 found that school choice improves educational attainment in traditional school systems. In terms of social-scientific validity, that’s a slam dunk.

Or look at other outcomes — financial consequences for taxpayers, racial segregation in the school system, parent satisfaction, civic values and practices, you name it. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies show school choice makes things better. Most research finds a positive effect; some research finds a null effect; very little research finds a negative effect. 

On the whole, the evidence is clear: school choice delivers for families seeking the best education money can buy."