Background on School Choice

School Choice

‘School Choice’ generally refers to a school district allowing parents to decide which school within the district to send their kids to. The political issue is whether to allow the choice to include private schools, parochial schools, and home schooling at taxpayer expense. Taxpayer funding of parochial schools potentially violates the Constitutional separation of church and state. Taxpayer funding of private schools is controversial because it subsidizes parents who are currently paying for private schools themselves, and are usually more wealthy than the average public school family.

Charter Schools

‘Charter schools’ are publicly-funded and publicly-controlled schools which are privately run. They are usually required to adhere to fewer district rules than regular public schools.

Vouchers

‘Vouchers’ are a means of implementing school choice -- parents are given a ‘voucher’ by the school district, which entitles them to, say, $4,000 applicable to either public school or private school tuition. The value of the voucher is generally lower than the cost of one year of public education (which averages $5,200), so private schools (where tuition averages $8,500) may require cash payment in addition to the voucher.

Education Buzzwords

Generally, any reference to ‘standards,’ or especially to dealing with ‘failing schools’, implies support of school vouchers. Generally, any reference to ‘smaller classrooms,’ or especially to ‘building public schools’, implies opposition to funding private schools. Further decoding of education buzzwords are detailed under Education.

K-12 Education Statistics

Total spending is $260 billion, (7% federal; the rest split state & local) rising by 5% per year.
Student population is 50 million, rising slowly (1 million per year) since 1984.
Public school spending is $5,200 per student, staying about even with inflation.
Parochial school costs $4,200 per student, not discounting church-provided buildings & other subsidies.
Private school costs $8,500 per student, not discounting scholarships or other financial aid.
90% attend public schools; about 6 million attend private & parochial schools.
78% of schools have Internet access; 97% plan to by the year 2000.
27% of classrooms have Internet access; lower in poor and minority schools.
College Statistics are detailed on the ‘Education’ page.

Related issues:

Education.
Children.
Education Spending:
DOE Budget

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