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Despite the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the constitutionality
of school vouchers, fully effective school choice programs are
only possible with the participation of suburban schools, according
to CWRU law professor Michael Heise.
Writing in the June issue of the Yale Law Journal, Heise,
along with James Ryan, professor at the University of Virginia
School of Law, note that the great majority of parents in suburban
school districts are satisfied with their schools and view choice
programs as a threat to their schools' quality and fiscal stability.
Consequently, most school choice plans are structured so as to
protect the independence of suburban school districts and do little
to help poor students in inner-city schools.
One way to address the problem, say the authors, is to try to
loosen suburban parents' allegiance to the concept of neighborhood
schools by supporting universal access to preschool.
"Our supposition is that if more parents experience a range
of government-funded choices among preschools, this experience
could make them more supportive of programs that offer a similar
range of choices among elementary and secondary schools," they
write.
The authors discuss the four kinds of choice programs now in
existence-intra-and interdistrict public school choice, charter
schools and vouchers. They find that while these programs can
marginally reduce the racial and economic segregation common in
most metropolitan areas, they are limited by the nonparticipation
of suburban schools, which are usually more white and affluent
than urban schools. Moreover, since suburban legislators represent
the balance of power in most state legislatures, it is unlikely
that any state will enact a school choice program that requires
suburban districts to participate.
Nevertheless, there is value in stimulating competition among
schools, because emerging evidence suggests that competition leads
to improvements in public education. But in places where competition
does exist the gains have been limited because the school choice
plans are limited by the nonparticipation of suburban schools.
The authors suggest two strategies for expanding school choice.
The first is to duplicate and strengthen existing school choice
plans. Steps to accomplish this would include increasing the number
of magnet schools, persuading suburban districts to take limited
numbers of inner-city students and providing funding for remedial
education and increasing the number of charter schools.
The second strategy is to alter the politics of school choice
by convincing suburban parents that they can benefit from choice.
An avenue for attempting that already exists in the form of state-
and federally funded preschool programs. Growing numbers of parents
are enrolling their children in publicly funded preschools, and
unlike elementary and secondary schools, enrollment is not limited
by residency.
"The theory behind our suggested strategy," Heise said, "is that
experience may change perceptions. To the extent that parents
experience school choice for the preschool-aged children and to
the extent that they appreciate having that choice, it seems reasonable
to expect that some would continue to support choice programs
that involve elementary and secondary schools."
Reprints of the article, "The Political Economy of School Choice"
are available from Professor Heise at 368-2659 or mxh94@po.cwru.edu.
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