America Needs Real School Choice

Half-measures have failed to foster the competition that would improve education in the U.S.

By Roland Fryer. Excerpts:

"The movement must return to Milton Friedman’s vision of unfettered competition, which no existing school-choice program achieves."

"the U.S. ranks 36th in math and 13th in reading on the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment, a poor showing driven in part by racial achievement gaps. Despite decades of initiatives to close those gaps, black and Hispanic students lag behind their white peers in academics, graduation rates and college enrollment."

"Today’s school-choice ecosystem, which one might refer to as “market lite,” has helped thousands of families. But millions are waiting, and current choice programs operate within the same inadequate framework."

"Real competition doesn’t mean entering a lottery to attend a charter school or providing vouchers worth only a fraction of public-school funding.Economists have a term for this: the general theory of the second best. This principle says that piecemeal approaches to optimizing systems can sometimes worsen outcomes when underlying systemic issues remain unaddressed."

"School choice as currently implemented is more patchwork than panacea. It’s like getting to pick between a government-run cafeteria and an alternative where the line is long and, more often than not, the dish you were hoping for has run out by the time you get to the front. Friedman envisioned a nation of all-you-can-eat buffets."

"Giving purchasing power to families leads to innovation. Educational entrepreneurs have begun to infuse the sector with fresh ideas and novel solutions. The pandemic showed the potential of online schools to offer flexible, individualized learning experiences. Microschools such as KaiPod Learning and Prenda also exemplify this transformation. These schools allow small groups of students to collaborate and learn in an intimate, technologically augmented environment. A tailored curriculum, improved by adaptive learning software, ensures that these schools are meeting each student’s needs.

In the interplay between ESAs and entrepreneurial zeal lies the revitalization of Friedman’s free-market vision for education. With more choices, parents are becoming informed consumers, prompting schools to refine their offerings.

If we can fully commit to free-market principles in education, we can create an education system that unlocks the talents of every student in our lifetimes. I dream of the day when the inadequacies in American education are consigned to history."