A school voucher, also called an education voucher, is a certificate of government funding for students at a chosen school. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. Depending on jurisdiction, a voucher may be used for home schooling expenses or exclusively for private schools, charter schools, or publicly funded schools. Milton Friedman argued for the modern economic concept of vouchers in the 1950s, stating that free market competition among private schools would improve schools, cost less and yield superior educational outcomes than publicly funded schools. Proponents of school vouchers, including Friedrich Hayek, also argue that voucher systems provide consumer sovereignty, thus increasing school performance and accountability. Friedman's argument has nonetheless been criticised for promoting cream-skimming among students, the random nature of lottery-style voucher allocation systems, the inherent inequality in some students having to attend less preferred schools, and the diversion of public funding away from public education. Research on the empirical effects of school vouchers has produced mixed results. On one hand, some studies find that, after adjusting for demographic factors, private and public schools performed similarly, and that voucher programs can contribute to segregation. Other studies show that increased competition indeed leads to better educational outcomes across the board and actually reduces racial and socio-economic division.
Definition School vouchers are often distributed to enable students to attend private schools, charter schools, and publicly funded schools. Educational subsidies can also take the form of comprise government-created bank accounts, whose funds are specifically used for educational purposes, and education tax credits. Government intervention in education typically takes two forms. The first approach is broad, comprising the institution of charter schools, magnet schools, or for-profit schools, and increasing competition. The second approach is individually focused and comprises providing subsidies or loans for individuals.
Economics Milton Friedman argued for the modern economic concept of vouchers in the 1950s, stating that free market competition among private schools would improve schools, cost less and yield superior educational outcomes than publicly funded schools. Further, proponents of Friedman's theory, including Friedrich Hayek, argue that voucher systems provide consumer sovereignty, thus increasing school performance and accountability. The free-market theory of school vouchers has been analogised to the competition between universities and the provision of government aid or scholarships for university students, which has arguably had a positive impact on research and teaching in higher education. Major proponents of Friedman's theory include Friedman's own non-governmental organisation EdChoice and the Sutherland Institute. Friedman's reasoning in favor of vouchers gained additional attention in 1980 with the broadcast of his ten-part television series Free to Choose and the publication of its companion book of the same name. Friedman's argument has been criticised for its implicit assumption that the prices of private schools are competitive owing to differences in teaching and administration, rather than its cream-skimming approach to selecting only students who come from wealthy or otherwise advantaged backgrounds. In contrast, the United States's National Education Association has criticised the random nature of lottery-style voucher allocation systems, the inherent inequality in some students having to attend less preferred and less competitive schools, and the diversion of public funding away from public education, which may in turn weaken public schooling standards.
A random survey of 210 economists of the American Economic Association, found that over two-thirds support giving parents educational vouchers that can be used at government-operated or privately operated schools, particularly for low-income students or students in poorly performing schools.
Background Governments have multiple incentives for intervention in and improvement of public education, including human capital accumulation, the promotion of societal values and norms, and positive externalities such as the reduction of crime and economic development. Families face a bundle of consumption choices that determine how much they will spend on education and private consumption, with the corresponding indifference curve representing how much education an individual will want to consume versus how much private consumption an individual will want to consume. Vouchers are thus typically instituted for two broad economic reasons: to enable consumer choice; and to increase market competition among schools.
Empirical effects Research has produced mixed results. A 2017 review of the economics literature on school vouchers concluded that "the evidence to date is not sufficient to warrant recommending that vouchers be adopted on a widespread basis; however, multiple positive findings support continued exploration". Some studies, including a 2006 United States Department of Education report, conclude that, after adjusting for demographic factors, private and public schools performed similarly. At the same time, a 2021 meta-analysis found "moderate evidence of positive achievement impacts of private school vouchers, with substantial effect heterogeneity across programs and outcome years" as well as evidence suggesting that "voucher interventions may be cost-effective even for null achievement impacts." Other studies suggest that voucher programs can contribute to segregation and lack accountability for taxpayer funds. Nonetheless, other research has also shown that under certain circumstances, income and racial segregation can be reduced indirectly by increasing school choice. Additionally, it is possible that private school vouchers may offset the overall budget by way of public school cost savings from lower enrollments. Resulting job losses in the public sector may also, potentially, be offset by the increased demand for jobs in the private sector. A 2018 study by Abdulkadiroğlu et al. found that disadvantaged students who won a lottery to get vouchers to attend private schools had worse education outcomes than disadvantaged students who did not win vouchers.
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