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January 24, 2001 Education Freedom Means Higher Student Achievement Dear Colleague: Parents of all income levels deserve the opportunity to choose the best education possible for their children. And as the attached Wall Street Journal op-ed by the Manhattan Institute's Dr. Jay Greene notes, the more choices parents have, the more likely their children are to learn. Last year, Congress took significant bipartisan action to expand choices for low-income parents -- creating expanded Education Savings Accounts (Coverdell accounts) that help parents pay for K-12 educational expenses and both private and public schools, and giving parents with children in chronically-failing public schools the right to choose a private tutor and a better-achieving public or charter school. This year, Republicans and Democrats in Congress must build on this solid foundation by taking further action to expand parental choice in education. The drive for equal educational opportunity in America doesn't end with President Bush's signing of the No Child Left Behind Act; it begins there. /s/ /s/ /s/ /s/ School Choice = Higher Test Scores In the U.S., the government does not, in general, restrict how families raise their children -- does not prescribe what clothes they should wear, what food they should eat, or what books they should read. Our states do vary widely, however, in the degree of freedom parents are permitted to decide how their children are educated. Given that education is really just an extension of child-rearing, it is curious that liberty is granted in one arena while often restricted in the other. The traditional justification for restricting freedom in education has been the assertion of a compelling public interest -- that the interests of society are better served when the state plays the role of educator. Evidence presented in the Manhattan Institute's new 2001 Education Freedom Index, however, provides further proof that the public interest in education is better served by more freedom, not less. The index measures four types of educational freedom: the ability of parents to pursue charter school options, subsidized private schools, public school choice and home-schooling. The results vary widely. More than a dozen states do not permit charter schools at all, while in Arizona nearly one-quarter of all public schools are chartered. In nine states, vouchers or tax-credits are available to assist parents in choosing a private school, while 13 states do not offer any form of assistance, not even textbooks, transportation, or medical services, to families in private schools. In some states choosing a different public school district is made easier by the fact that districts are numerous and small or by the existence of interdistrict transfer programs, while in Hawaii the entire state is a single school district. Parents unhappy with their school district in the Aloha State have to move to another state. In some states, such as Idaho, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Texas, the regulatory burden placed on parents choosing home-schooling is relatively modest, while in other states, such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Utah, the regulations are quite onerous. Because the range of educational options varies from state to state it is possible to examine whether greater education freedom is associated with better academic outcomes. Holding constant other factors that may influence academic performance, such as household income, race, and per pupil spending, states that offer greater education freedom have significantly higher student test scores. A two-point increase in the Education Freedom Index score for a state, roughly the difference between top-ranked Arizona and bottom-ranked Hawaii, yields an additional 8% of students performing proficiently on the U.S Department of Education's National Assessment of Educational Progress math test. Just think, without changing anything else -- without spending a dime more, without eradicating poverty -- states could significantly increase academic performance simply by offering families additional options. States with the most education freedom also exhibited the most improvement in test scores during the 1990s. For example, Minnesota, which ranks fifth in the index, increased the percentage of its students performing proficiently on the math NAEP by 17% during the 1990s, almost double the rate of increase nationally. Minnesota's neighbor, North Dakota, which ranks 44th, only increased the percentage performing proficiently on the math NAEP by 4%. Gov. Jeb Bush in Florida is spearheading efforts to increase education freedom. Just in the past year, Florida initiated or expanded a series of educational options for parents. The state revised its McKay Scholarships program that offers vouchers to special needs students with which they can attend a private school, resulting in a dramatic increase in enrollment. The state also initiated a significant corporate tax credit for donations to funds that provide low-income students with private school scholarships. And the state continues to expand its charter school offerings as well as continue its A-Plus accountability and choice program, which offers vouchers to students at schools if the schools chronically fail to offer an acceptable quality education. These programs have propelled Florida from 35th to fourth place in the Education Freedom Index. According to the statistical analysis in the report, this should result in an additional 2% of Florida students performing proficiently on the math NAEP test. This may not sound like a big leap but it is. The state would have to increase per pupil spending by more than 20% to realize the same gain in test scores, according to the statistical model. It certainly costs much less to offer parents some additional choices. More effective and less costly: Who could possibly oppose education freedom? |