by Patrick Gibbons
Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice
March 22, 2013
For more than 20 years school choice programs have provided parents opportunities to send their children to public or private schools more suited to their needs. Choice and competition in education benefits students. Today, 21 states and Washington, D.C., have school choice programs serving more than one million students. Impressively, nine out of 10 random-assignment studies, considered the gold standard of scientific research, show statistically significant academic benefits for students using scholarships to attend private school. Additionally, another 20 studies show public schools improve when faced with competition from private schools. As Texas lawmakers consider various school choice proposals including, tax-credit scholarships, some fear that school choice will lead to increased regulation of private schools. This brief examines the available evidence on tax-credit scholarships and government regulations on private schools.



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