Michael Gerson writes here about the momentum for empowering parents with school vouchers, which recently received a boost from the Indiana Supreme Court. Gerson also details some interesting data about the impact of vouchers.

Last year a group of nine leading educational researchers summarized the evidence this way: “Among voucher programs, random-assignment studies generally find modest improvements in reading or math scores, or both. Achievement gains are typically small in each year, but cumulative over time. Graduation rates have been studied less often, but the available evidence indicates a substantial positive impact. … Other research questions regarding voucher program participants have included student safety, parent satisfaction, racial integration, services for students with disabilities, and outcomes related to civic participation and values. Results from these studies are consistently positive.”

 

And what about those who say it crosses a line to offer a voucher to be used at a religious school?

The Indiana verdict could hardly have been more favorable to the choice movement. The court found that Indiana is serving valid educational purposes BOTH by maintaining a public schools system and by providing options beyond it.  And it held (as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002) that including religious schools as an option does not establish religion. “Any benefit to program-eligible schools, religious or non-religious,” the Indiana court concluded, “derives from the private, independent choice of the parents.”

These principles have broader implication. The pursuit of the public interest does not always require a public bureaucracy. Medicare pays for services provided at Catholic hospitals. The GI bill allowed veterans to use their scholarships at religious colleges and universities. The proper role of government is to ensure the provision of essential services – not always to provide those services itself.

 

John Locke Foundation Director of Research and Education Studies, Terry Stoops, has analyzed the pros and cons of vouchers here. Among his conclusions:

All school choice mechanisms have pros, cons, and tradeoffs. The major drawback of using a direct government voucher (also called a scholarship) is that it tends to invite excessive government regulation on participating families and schools. As such, vouchers require additional safeguards and protections for participating children, families, and schools.

Vouchers tend to be more transparent and easier for parents to understand than other types of choice options. Furthermore, voucher programs do not require changes to the tax code, which is ideal for states, including North Carolina, that are considering major tax reforms.

There is a consensus in the education research community that school choice raises student achievement for the average participating student.