Myth of cream-skimming

The lowest-performing public school students are the most likely to use and benefit from school choice programs according to a new study on Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program. In fact, 27.9 percent of students who participated in the program were in the bottom fifth of their prior public school’s mathematics test score distribution. These findings fly in...

The lowest-performing public school students are the most likely to use and benefit from school choice programs according to a new study on Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

In fact, 27.9 percent of students who participated in the program were in the bottom fifth of their prior public school’s mathematics test score distribution.

These findings fly in the face of the claim that school choice opponents often peddle – that the reason schools that accept voucher students see annual gains in student achievement is because these student are the best students from their original public schools.

A study from last year analyzing the effects of North Carolina’s charter school law on public school achievement showed similar effects. Researchers found that nearly 75 percent of the growth in public school scores resulted from the lowest performing students transferring to charter schools.

These results make complete sense – the parent of a struggling student would be more likely to look for different schooling options for their child compared to a parent whose child is succeeding.

Despite these findings, don’t expect school choice opponents to stop peddling their myth that the gains in student achievement seen in voucher programs are the result of the best students utilizing them. For many, their livelihood depends on perpetuating it.

Clinging on to power at any cost, including deceiving teachers and parents about the effects of school choice programs, is wrong.

It needlessly harms the population that would benefit the most from these reforms – the students.

To see the mentioned study clic here