School Choice Continues to Enhance Education in Louisiana
As the academic year draws to a close, so too does the 2014 session of the Louisiana State Legislature that brought numerous victories for the school choice movement and Pelican State students. The results of Louisiana’s innovative education programs
have shown that more competition among schools and more flexibility for students are the most effective ways to improve the American education system.
Those concerned about inequality should rejoice that students from Louisiana's low-income families will have the chance to continue to post-secondary education, enabling them to earn middle- or upper-class incomes.
The legislature passed two bills that expanded the Louisiana Scholarship Program, which empowers students from low-income families to escape poorly-performing schools for private schools, then to college. Another successful bill will allow students in failing public schools to transfer into stronger public schools (provided room is available). In a sign that school choice is becoming more popular, all three bills passed the legislature with bipartisan support.
The Louisiana Scholarship Program has boosted multiple measures of student achievement. Since the program’s inception in 2008, the percentage of scholarship students performing at basic levels or higher in English language and math has increased by nearly a quarter. Additionally, 92 percent of parents of scholarship students report satisfaction with their child’s performance in school. Plus, the benefits of the program are accruing to traditionally disadvantaged groups—86 percent of scholarship students are African-American.
The logic behind school choice programs is simple: when students are given the opportunity to switch schools (and take their tax dollars with them), schools have incentives to improve quality in order to retain students. In New Orleans, the last traditional public schools in the city closed in favor of better-quality charter schools. The change has raised the graduation rate in New Orleans to 78 percent from 54 percent in 2004.
Critics of school choice programs often allege that many schools are failing because they are underfunded. But this argument defies the data: U.S. per-student spending on primary and secondary schools has risen by 37 percent in the last two decades, hovering at around $13,000 in recent years. Per-pupil annual spending in D.C.’s failing public schools approaches $24,000.
The answer is not more spending, but wiser use of existing resources. A study on the District of Columbia’s school voucher program found that it produced benefits of $2.62 for every $1.00 spent and raised students' performance.
Other states should follow Louisiana’s example in reforming its education system and using the power of competition and choice to improve school performance. School choice has the potential to help underprivileged students move out of failing schools, attend college, and eventually achieve the American Dream.
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