Study Shows Choice Does Not Financially Harm School Districts
*In the interest of full disclosure, I do some occasional work with the Friedman Foundation on school choice issues. With that said, I have always been a big advocate of choice, vouchers and education reform, so I am not reprinting anything here that is inconsistent with my core values on education.
A new study by the Friedman Foundation for Education Choice has revealed that school choice does not financially harm traditional public education.
The report released today entitled, “The Fiscal Effects of School Choice Programs on Public School Districts,” found that 36 percent of public school expenses are “fixed” costs while 64 percent are “variable” costs over a one year period. “Fixed” costs are related to buildings and other capital investments. “Variable” costs cover instruction, curriculum and other related costs.
Ben Scafidi, author of the report, and senior fellow with the Friedman Foundation says there is no fiscal harm when public schools lose students to a school that better fits their needs. If anything, Scafidi says, the schools have more money when students leave because they have fewer to educate and they get to keep some of the funds they were allotted.
The report also showed that if school systems retain 36 percent of the funds to educate each student, after the child has left the system, then they will be able to fund the “fixed” costs that remain with school systems.
The report estimates that the average spending per child across the United States was $12,450 during the 2008-09 academic year. Fixed costs account for about $4,482 per student on average.
Robert Enlow, President and CEO of the Friedman Foundation noted, if districts have school choice programs and lose a few hundred children, they really are benefiting financially because they keep many of the dollars spent on each child. In no other business in America do you still get paid for not having a customer to serve, he said
Scafidi also added that “variable” costs which cover instruction and learning can easily be reduced when a student departs because there are fewer students to teach – especially from one year to the next.
There currently are 34 school choice programs in 19 states and other jurisdictions including voucher, tax credit and education savings account programs to offer parents the opportunity to utilize their own tax dollars to transfer to the school of their choice.
To read the full report, visit http://EdChoice.org/ScafidiFiscal2012
