School Choice Will Destroy The Public Schools? -- Maybe That's A
Good Thing
Public-school defenders often argue that school choice would
destroy the public schools. Almost 90 percent of children in
this country attend public schools. If we had vouchers, no
compulsory attendance laws, and an unregulated education free
market, millions of parents might transfer their children to
private schools. This would drain hundreds of millions of tax
dollars from public schools. Those children left behind in the
shriveled public schools would then get an even worse education
than they do now. Therefore, the argument goes, we have to fight
school choice to protect the public schools.
School authorities use the same argument against charter
schools. Charter schools are public schools controlled by
parent-teacher boards, not central school authorities. School
authorities claim that charter schools, like vouchers, divert
millions of taxpayer dollars from regular public schools, and
can therefore undermine these schools. Public schools may have
serious problems, school authorities say, but almost forty-five
million American children attend these schools. Allowing school
choice would