More Resources  Paige's Statement  Zelman vs. Simmons-Harris  Federal Support to Private  & Religious Groups  Court Affirms Parents'  Right to Choose  Webcast of Paige's Comments  Paige's Op-Ed  Armey Introduces Choice Bill

With the latest victory for school choice, Americans should focus on the evidence that suggests school choice improves student achievement.

Random-assignment studies of choice programs in five cities—Charlotte, Dayton, Milwaukee, New York, and Washington, D.C.—all find that students enrolled in these programs experience significant academic benefits.

These findings have been confirmed and re-confirmed by a variety of researchers from Harvard, Princeton, the University of Wisconsin, Georgetown, and the Manhattan Institute. Few education experiments, if any, have been as closely examined as school choice with such strong, positive findings.

School choice not only helps students immediately, it also helps improve public education. Studies in Milwaukee and nationwide by Harvard economist Caroline Hoxby and others suggests that the competitive pressure of school choice can improve performance among public schools as well.

The beneficiaries of school choice are overwhelmingly minority, typically Black students. Detailed examinations of choice programs in New York, Washington, D.C. and Dayton, reveal that close to half of the students accepting choice scholarships are Black. The same studies suggest that Black students in these cities experience significant academic gains after using scholarships.

The success of school choice to date demonstrates why it is imperative that we embrace this promising reform that places confidence in parents and gives every American the power to find the best education possible. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling should encourage more states and local communities to empower parents with more choices for their children.

In order to encourage innovation and choice in education, President Bush's budget for FY 2003 calls for $50 million to be allocated toward private school choice demonstration programs. Through the further study made possible by these funds, we will be able to learn how to best design choice programs, which students benefit most, and which programs allow parents more educational options for their children.

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