How do voucher programs impact district achievement, segregation, or district per pupil expenditures?
These are questions that have dogged voucher programs for a long, long time.
Yesterday the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation released a comprehensive study that explored the impacts of Ohio’s largest voucher program, the Educational Choice Scholarship Program (EdChoice) on school enrollment, finances, and academic outcomes.
Researchers found:
- The EdChoice Program led to modest achievement gains in district academic success.
- High participation rates of Black and Hispanic Students in EdChoice (55 percent of recipients in 2018-19) has actually helped communities that have historically been segregated.
- EdChoice did not drain money from districts but had a neutral fiscal impact. This happened since local funding per student tends to rise when student exit for private options, while state support usually declines.
The Fordham Study which analyzed thirteen years of data is available here.
