This Chart Shows Why School Choice Makes Financial Sense
Bubba
17 Oct
With debates about public school funding erupting in certain parts of the country, a new study shows school choice programs spend much less per student than public K-12 schools. (WSJ)
Chart: EdChoice
A new EdChoice report: An analysis of 48 private school choice programs in 25 states plus D.C. found these programs spend roughly $6,000 per pupil, compared to the $17,000 public schools receive in funding.
According to the study, these programs have saved taxpayers between $19.4 billion and $45.6 billion.
This equates to savings of up to $7,800 per student, with taxpayers saving between $1.70 and $2.64 for every dollar spent.
Total state spending on public services is more than $1.2 trillion, with school choice programs making up just 0.3% of state budgets.
Related: Chicago, where school spending has doubled since 2012, is currently in the midst of a heated political debate over the funding of the city’s public schools system.
Chicago Teachers Union president Stacey Davis Gates wrote last month that the city’s public schools “have always been underfunded, because they, like our highways and former public housing, are intertwined with the project of segregation in the city.”
The vibes: A new Center Square Voters’ Voice/Noble Predictive Insights poll found 69% of Americans, including 62% of Democrats, support a federal school choice program.
