The Case for Choice in Schooling - Mackinac Center

The Case for Choice in Schooling:Restoring Parental Control of EducationMackinac Center for Public PolicyMYTH #5: PARENTS WILL USE THE WRONG CRITERIA TO CHOOSE SCHOOLS, OR THEYWILL MAKE BAD DECISIONS FOR THEIR CHILDREN.Implicit in this argument are the assumptions that parents—particularly poor andminority parents—are not smart enough to know what is best for their children, and thatgovernment will make better school selection choices than parents. Common sense andexperience, however, tell us that most parents in fact do make good decisions with theirchildren’s best interests in mind. Some parents may make poor decisions, but this is noargument for denying choice to everyone.THE FACTS:• The right to make poor choices is legal. Some people make poor decisions in manyareas of life: They choose to eat poor food, watch poor television programs, drive poorcars, and enter into poor relationships. But no one argues that this is an excuse forgovernment to make these decisions for everyone. The right of people to make poorchoices in a free society is the same right that allows people to make good choices.Freedom does not come without inherent risks, but freedom is certainly better than beingforced to accept the poor choices of others.• Minority and lower-income parents can be trusted to make good choices.Opponents of school choice often presume that minority and lower-income parents donot know the difference between good and bad schools and therefore often will choosebad schools. This condescending assumption ignores the evidence that poor oruneducated parents are just as capable as higher-income, better-educated parents ofdistinguishing between good and bad schools. The problem is that poor parents arerarely given the opportunity to do so. But when they have the opportunity and are givenfull information about the choices open to them, they choose well. 111Opponents ofschool choice oftenpresume thatminority andlower-incomeparents do notknow thedifference betweengood and badschools andtherefore often willchoose badschools.The Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF), a private organization that offers financialassistance to lower-income students, received over 1.25 million applicants for its fouryear,$1,000 student scholarships. The average income of applying families was under$22,000 per year, showing that parents are willing to make significant financial sacrificeseven for scholarships that pay only part of their children’s tuition. CSF CEO and Co-Chairman Ted Forstmann remarked, “Think of it: 1.25 million applicants asking to pay$1,000 a year over four years. That’s $5 billion that poor families were willing to spendsimply to escape the schools where their children have been relegated and to secure adecent education.” 112• Parents, who understand their children’s needs best, should determine the criteriaby which to judge schools. School choice has been criticized because some parentsmay decide that a school with an emphasis on team sports is better for their child thanone that excels in, say, science. Others may disagree with such criteria for choosing aschool, but the disapproval of others is no reason to deny all parents the right to maketheir own choices.February 2001 41