Yes. Once parents are empowered to vote with their feet, school boards will become much more interested in addressing parental concerns.
Actually, those tax dollars belong to the taxpayers and are held in trust for the benefit of school children. Every child should have the right to learn where they learn best, whether that be a public or private setting.
Yes. Overwhelmingly. A 2021 Texas poll found that 72% of registered voters support “the concept of school choice if it gives parents the right to use the tax dollars designated for their child’s education to send their child to the public school or private school which best serves their needs.” Only 20% opposed the idea.
No. Students would profit with greater choice. Just as under the current system those who provide services will be paid for those services. However, the administrative and overhead costs for private schools are considerably lower than those same costs in public schools.
The financial impact to any ISD would be exactly the same as if that child moved out of the district. Plus, the ISD would still keep 100% of its facilities funding.
No. Good public schools have nothing to fear from school choice. Happy kids will remain in public schools. But, why trap underserved and dissatisfied students in bad schools?
No. Accredited private schools already administer nationally normed tests. Parents should be able to select the school they are convinced best meets the needs of their child.
No. Not if choice laws are well drafted. States already regulate private schools. The appropriate response to this legitimate concern is to create choice programs that ensure private schools retain their authority over curriculum, textbook selection, admissions, retention, disciplinary policies, personnel policies, and all other educational policy.
Religious schools automatically have even more protection. The Lemon Test (US Supreme Court, Lemon v. Kurtzman), part of establishment clause jurisprudence, prohibits excessive entanglement between government and religious schools. This principle prohibits excessive and intrusive regulation of religious private schools.
1. Herbert Walberg, School Choice: The Findings, Cato Institute, 2007; Eric Hanushek, “The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper #16606, 2010.”
2. Robert M. Costrell, The Fiscal Impact of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1993-2008, University of Arkansas, 2008.
3. Edgewood IV, Texas Supreme Court, T893 S.W.2d 450, 463 (Tex. 1995)
4. See Love vs City of Dallas
5. See “Public Free Schools”, Allan E. Parker, 45 SW Law Journal, p. 825 (1991)
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