School Choice Competition Working in Florida, New Report Shows

May 6, 2008 | Filed Under Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Israel Teitelbaum, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture |

-By Israel Teitelbaum

Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities Linked to Public School Achievement Increases.

Washington, D.C. (May 2, 2008)—America’s largest school voucher program for students with special needs, the John M. McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities, has led to increased achievement among public school students with special needs, a new report by the New York-based Manhattan Institute reveals.

The Alliance for School Choice—the nation’s preeminent nonprofit organization promoting school vouchers and scholarship tax credit programs—hailed the report as further evidence that the competition brought about by private school choice benefits public schools.

Authored by Jay Greene and Marcus Winters, the report, titled The Effect of Special Education Vouchers on Public School Achievement: Evidence From Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program, concludes that “rather than being harmed, public schools respond to the challenge of exposure to school choice by improving the education they provide.”

According to the study, students with mild disabilities who are educated in Florida’s public schools posted significant test score improvements in math and reading. These gains occurred when other students with special needs transferred from public schools to private schools using the state’s McKay Program.

“The paper is the first quantitative evaluation of a voucher program designed specifically for students with disabilities,” said Alliance President Charles R. Hokanson, Jr. “Jay Greene and Marcus Winters provide a rigorous, scientifically valid, and conclusive study that adds significant substance to the debate over the impact of competition and school choice on public schools.”

The McKay Program was established in 1999 and is benefiting 19,439 students this school year. Throughout the country, five states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Utah) offer special needs scholarship programs.

“Several local organizations—including Step Up for Students and the Florida Alliance for Choices in Education—as well as the Florida Department of Education, deserve significant credit for ensuring that this important program benefits not only the students who receive scholarships but students with special needs all throughout the Sunshine State,” said Lori Drummer, state projects director for the Alliance.

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Israel Teitelbaum is currently creating a new school choice organization to help further the efforts to improve our public schools. His blog will soon be up and running at SchoolChoiceVoter.org. Mr. Teitelbaum can be reached at israel@schoolchoicenj.org.