School choice programs in Wisconsin have not significantly affected outcomes for public school students or led to a decline in their test scores, according to a study released on Monday.
Will Flanders, research director at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, which commissioned the study alongside School Choice Wisconsin, told National Review that this finding goes directly against one of the main talking points of school-choice opponents.
Instead of finding test scores in steep decline, the study saw small positive shifts in reading scores and no statistically significant effect on math scores. Wisconsin has been offering private school alternatives since the 1990s.
Critics often argue that school choice not only diverts critical resources from public schools, but also that choice schools will “skim” the best students, leading to a group of students in public schools that is more challenging to educate. “We have a long track record of this program in Wisconsin and we have no evidence in support of that notion,” Flanders said.
Flanders said Milton Friedman’s idea of school choice as providing the necessary competition to lift all ships is at the heart of the study’s findings.
“When the public school monopoly actually has to deal with competitors, for the first time in many instances, they’re forced to start listening to the desires and needs of families in their communities and that results in improved performance,” said Flanders. “They’re required to become more efficient.”
The study builds upon past research on the Milwaukee Public Schools to include data on outcomes in Racine Public Schools and schools throughout Wisconsin.
School choice programs were first developed in Milwaukee and Racine and were expanded statewide in 2013 by former governor Scott Walker, a Republican. In the years since, Wisconsin has remained committed to choice. Last week, lawmakers agreed to a historic investment in school choice, increasing the amount of annual vouchers for students, among other investments.
Currently, 5.7 percent of students across the state are enrolled in private choice schools. There are about 50,000 students in these schools compared to about 800,000 in public schools throughout Wisconsin.
In Milwaukee, where the program is most developed, about one in four students are in private, choice schools. There are 27,000 students in these schools compared to 70,000 in public schools.
In both cases, there isn’t a decline in proficiency resulting from school choice programs, the study found.
Flanders said that if there was a rapid shift toward alternative schools, that might cause some problems initially.
“Just like any other free market entity, any other business, there is the ability to adjust. Fixed costs can become fluid over time as the monetary situation changes. I would anticipate that in the long term even if growth is more dramatic than what we see here, we would still see the positive effects,” explained Flanders.
However, there will always be a large percentage of people that choose traditional public schools, Flanders said.
Asked by National Review why public-school reading scores may have increased, Flanders said that under increased pressure, many public schools have put a focus on the “science of reading,” or phonics. Shifts in math curricula are more difficult to implement, he explained.
While there is an impact on the bottom line of public schools if they lose students to alternative-educational settings, there has been very little consolidation in public school districts in the state. “We are still at over 420 school districts in Wisconsin. There have been a very small number of consolidations in the last six or seven years [since statewide school choice expansion],” said Flanders. “Those are not necessarily based on school choice.”
Michael Metoff, outreach and research coordinator for School Choice Wisconsin, told National Review that the debate over school choice needs to be grounded in facts.
“That’s what we set out to research — to see how the growth of school choice affected students in public schools,” he said. “The answer is clear: increasing access to educational freedom is a win for all students.”
The study took into account declines in test scores caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected outcomes at schools throughout the country.
Aside from Wisconsin, other states are also implementing or expanding school choice programs. In March, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed one of largest expansions of school choice in the country. Earlier that month, Arkansas governor Sarah Sanders did the same.