School Choice: Supporters and Opponents

Abstract

We examine the attitudes of Ohio homeowners about school choice, which includes open enrollment programs, school vouchers, tuition tax credits, and charter schools. Previous studies examine more limited forms of choice and investigate fewer possible influences. Overall we report at least five new findings and five findings that contradict previous studies. We find the strongest predictors of opposition for school choice are people having graduate degrees and living in high-performing public school districts. We find people living in blue collar areas and using private schools to be the strongest predictors of support. Males tend to oppose choice and African Americans support it. We find no role for income, the convenience of alternative schools, or the protection of house values in support for school choice. Overall we report at least five new findings and five findings that contradict previous studies. (JEL H44, I22)

What types of people sort to which public services?

“…The rich data used in this paper is based on the phone survey described in Brasington and Hite (, ), which prompts survey respondents who recently purchased a house to identify the main reasons they chose their particular house. A map of the location of people who completed the surveys is provided in Figure .…”

“… Source : (1) Survey of Brasington and Hite (), (2) US EPA (), (3) calculated in Brasington and Hite (), (4) GeoLytics (), (5) FARES (), (6) Ohio Department of Education (), (7) GeoLytics (), (8) Ohio Department of Taxation (), (9) Bradley et al (), (10) Ohio Department of Education ().…”

House Prices and School Quality: Instruments, Signaling, Usage and Perceptions

“…The rich data used in this paper is based on the survey described in Brasington and Hite [17,18]. Readers are referred to these papers for more detail about the phone survey, but we reiterate here that despite a relatively low response rate our data are fairly representative of Ohio homeowners.…”

Who Favors Magnets and Who Favors Charters? Political Ideology, Social Purpose Politics, and School Choice in the Upper South

“…Numerous studies examine whether a particular form of school choice promotes student achievement or whether a type of school choice discourages or encourages diversity by race, ethnicity, and ability (Cobb & Glass, 2009; Bifulco & Ladd, 2007; Frankenberg & Siegel-Hawley, 2013; Ladd et al, 2017; Mickelson et al, 2012; Renzulli & Evans, 2005). Studies also examine attitudes toward school choice, but these studies are typically limited to the views of parents, teachers, and administrators rather than public attitudes (Ferraiolo et al, 2004; Hess et al, 2000; Patrikios & Curtice, 2014; Shuls, 2018; Wilson et al, 2010; see Brasington & Hite, 2014; Corcoran & Stoddard, 2011; Shakeel & Henderson, 2019 for exceptions). Such views prompt some households to elect schools of choice, removing their children from traditional public schools with potential implications for school resegregation.…”