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THE SCHOOL VOUCHER AUDITDo Publicly Funded Private School ChoicePrograms Save Money?
breaking down
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@edchoice
School choice advocates have always used the savings potential of vouchers as a positive selling point.
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@edchoice
Since the creation of the first voucher program in 1990, six studies have examined the fiscal impact of school choice on taxpayers.
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@edchoice
All six show school choice saves money for taxpayers. None found a negative impact.
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@edchoice
But still, that wealth of evidence hasn’t stopped school choice opponents from claiming otherwise.
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@edchoice
“MYTH: Vouchers save taxpayers money”-Education Voters of Pennsylvania
“Vouchers do not save taxpayer money”-Americans United for Separation
of Church and State
“Myth 1: Vouchers save money”-National Education Association
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@edchoice
So what is getting lost in translation?
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@edchoice
Our Director of Fiscal Policy and Analysis...
• Former Controller/Chief Financial Officer for the City of Indianapolis
• Two-time Fantasy Football Champion
• Elton John Enthusiast
• Roger Federer Fan
• Dad of sixth-grader Elly
JEFF SPALDING
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@edchoice
...not only examined the fiscal impact of voucher programs...
1990
2001
1995
2006
1992
2003
1997
2008
1991
2002
1996
2007
1993
2004
1998
2009
1994
2005
1999
2000
2010
Milwaukee Parental Choice Program | Wisconsin
Cleveland Scholarship Program | Ohio
John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program | Florida
Autism Scholarship Program | Ohio
Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Program | Utah
Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program | Georgia
Opportunity Scholarship Program | Florida
Opportunity Scholarship Program | Washington, D.C.
Educational Choice Scholarship Program | Ohio
Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program | Louisiana
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@edchoice
...he also walks through how he made each calculation for full transparency.
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@edchoice
To make sense of a calculation,first you’ve got to understand
what you’re calculating.
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@edchoice
After all, the numbers alone don’t indicate whether an outcome is good or bad.
10 4 6
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@edchoice
Opponents claim, simplistically, that school choice drains money from the public school system.
I do not support vouchers. And the reason I don’t is because I don’t think we can afford to siphon dollars away from our underfunded public schools.”-HILLARY CLINTON
“
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@edchoice
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@edchoice
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@edchoice
That rhetoric obscures an important fact: A public school is also relieved ofthe cost burden for any student
switching to private school.
$ • speech therapy
• remedial reading specialist
• all other standard instructional costs
+
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@edchoice
By not acknowledging such variable cost savings, opponents implicitly argue thatall public school costs are “fixed.”
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@edchoice
By that logic: If costs don’t go down when a public school’s enrollment declines...
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@edchoice
...costs wouldn’t go up when a public school’s enrollment grows.
Enrollment
Dolla
rs
Revenue
Cost
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@edchoice
One could argue school choice opponents basically say the relationship between funding and costs for instructing students looks like this:
Enrollment
Dolla
rs
Revenue
Cost
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@edchoice
In actuality, the relationship between funding and costs looks more like this.
Enrollment
Dolla
rs
Revenue
Cost
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@edchoice
For a voucher program to result in savings, this must be true:
Per-Student Cost Burden Removed
from Public School
Net SavingsPer Student
Cost ofVoucher
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@edchoice
To determine whether that is the case for a voucher program, use this equation:
Public School Cost Per Studentx
Number of Voucher Students( )Voucher Amount
xNumber of Voucher Students( )
TOTAL NET SAVINGS
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@edchoice
We did the math.
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@edchoice
By taking their educational needs to independent schools, voucher students removed a cost burden of $4.5 billion from public schools.
$4.5 billion ? ?
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@edchoice
From 1990 to 2011, students received$2.8 billion in voucher funds to attend independent schools of their choice.
$4.5 billion $2.8 billion ?
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@edchoice
You read that right.
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@edchoice
Voucher programs saved $1.7 billion.
$4.5 billion $1.7 billion$2.8 billion
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@edchoice
What happened to those savings?
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@edchoice
Those funds are most commonly captured by either the public school districts or the state treasury, which can use them to:
1. invest in public schools,
2. invest in other priorities such as law enforcement or healthcare,
3. lower total state spending,
4. build reserves, and/or
5. lower taxes
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@edchoice
In fairness, however, some kids who use vouchers are not diverted from public schools. That is, they maybe could have attended private school without a voucher.
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@edchoice
But if a family’s financial hardship and inability to get a voucher were to cause parents to withdraw from private schools...
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@edchoice
...already cash-strapped public schools would be hit with the financial responsibility of adding those kids to classrooms and funding their education.
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@edchoice
With that in mind, wonder how muchmore voucher programs could be saving?
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@edchoice
If vouchers would have been available to keep private school enrollment steady from 1985 to
2010, our country could have saved
$111 billion.
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@edchoice
What has the U.S. education system accomplished instead?Ad
ditio
nal C
ost o
f Tot
al U
.S. E
nrol
lmen
t Shi
ft to
Pub
lic S
choo
lsPrivate School Share of K-12 Enrollm
ent
13%
12%
11%
10%
$16B
$14B
$12B
$10B
$8B
$6B
$4B
$2B
0
Private School Enrollment Share
$222 billion cumulative additional cost for public schools, over 25 years, because of erosion in the private school enrollment share
2009
-10
2005
-06
2001
-02
1997
-98
1993
-94
1989
-90
1985
-86
2007
-08
2003
-04
1999
-00
1995
-96
1991
-92
1987
-88
School Year
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@edchoice
If these numbers piqued your interest, check out individual program breakdowns
and more in the full report atedchoice.org/SchoolVoucherAudit