Celebrating Educational Choice Across the Country During School Choice Week
Educational choice programs are in the spotlight this week as National School Choice Week kicks off over 21,000 events across the country, involving more than six million parents, students, educators, and policymakers in all 50 states. This year, NSCW coincides with the release of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s brand-new Report Card on American Education, and corresponding interactive website, www.ALECreportcard.org, which ranks states across six key policy areas, including school choice.
School choice has a great record of boosting student academic success and other important outcomes in states all over the country. Research on private school choice programs found students perform significantly better on math and reading tests than their public school peers, particularly after an initial adjustment period. Participating parents love Arizona’s groundbreaking education savings account program. Students enrolled in Milwaukee’s Parental Choice Program were 42 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime and 79 percent less likely to be convicted of a felony than a demographically-matched student in public school…
There is no evidence these school choice successes have come at the expense of traditional public school students. Out of the 23 studies examining the impact of choice programs on local district schools, 22 found improved academic performance, likely as a result of competition (the 23rd found no impact). In other words, school choice programs have encouraged public schools to serve students better, and all students are benefiting from parents empowered to choose schools.
Read more at Washington Examiner.
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