Report Unsuccessfully Attempts to Present a Convincing Fiscal Argument for Voucher Programs

BOULDER, CO (February 11, 2024)—The expansion of voucher programs, which provide taxpayer-financed subsidies for families enrolling students in private schools, has prompted a debate about their fiscal impact. A recent EdChoice report argues that these programs do not negatively affect public school finances and actually save taxpayers substantial sums of money. Today’s review explains how this argument rings hollow.

In his review of Fiscal Effects of School Choice: The Costs and Savings of Private School Choice Programs in America Through FY 2022, Mark Weber of Rutgers University and the New Jersey Policy Perspective walks readers though the report’s simplistic and unvalidated methods, showing how they lead to the invalid conclusion that the programs result in taxpayer savings.

The report’s estimation of the number of students likely incentivized by vouchers to switch from public to private schools—as opposed to students who use the vouchers to subsidize a private-school education that they would avail themselves of even without the voucher—is wholly unfounded. This problem is crucial, since the latter (“stayers” in private schools) represent a large new expenditure for states with voucher programs.

Further, Dr. Weber points out, the report fails to apprehend that private and public schools serve different students, with public schools enrolling more students with specific educational needs that drive up costs. Weber notes additional methodological assumptions that are fatally flawed, likely underestimating the true costs of private-school voucher programs.

Ultimately, he concludes, the report’s lack of empirical evidence, reliance on poorly formed theories, and slapdash methods render it useless to policymakers.

Find the review, by Mark Weber, at:
https://nepc.colorado.edu/review/fiscal-effects

Find Fiscal Effects of School Choice: The Costs and Savings of Private School Choice Programs in America Through FY 2022, written by Martin F. Lueken and published by EdChoice, at: https://www.edchoice.org/research-library/?report=2024-fiscal-effects-of-school-choice#report

 

NEPC Reviews (https://nepc.colorado.edu/reviews) provide the public, policymakers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of selected publications. NEPC Reviews are made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: http://www.greatlakescenter.org

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, sponsors research, produces policy briefs, and publishes expert third-party reviews of think tank reports. NEPC publications are written in accessible language and are intended for a broad audience that includes academic experts, policymakers, the media, and the general public. Our mission is to provide high-quality information in support of democratic deliberation about education policy. We are guided by the belief that the democratic governance of public education is strengthened when policies are based on sound evidence and support a multiracial society that is inclusive, kind, and just. Visit us at: http://nepc.colorado.edu

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