Solution of the week: School choice

Geoffrey Lawrence

Editor’s note: Earlier this year, NPRI released Solutions 2013, a comprehensive sourcebook of research and recommendations in 39 policy areas. Now, each week during the run-up to the 2013 Legislative Session, NPRI is highlighting one of these as its Solution of the Week. If you would like NPRI to speak to your organization about this or another policy recommendation, please contact Victor Joecks at vj@npri.org. Solutions 2013 is also available online here.

In virtually every aspect of life, Nevadans demand choice. They expect a choice of grocers, retailers, food service providers, health care specialists and automobile manufacturers. Choice begets accountability, because producers of these goods quickly learn that, to attract and retain customers, they must offer a product consumers are willing to pay for.

Yet, in the realm of education — arguably the most significant area of an individual’s life — Nevadans have been deprived of choice. Instead, they have been forced into a state‐run monopoly. The outcome has been predictable: As the monopoly has protected poor educators from the accountability that choice imposes on grocers and retailers, the quality of Nevada’s K‐12 education system has continuously deteriorated. If Nevada’s public school system is to prepare the next generation of Nevadans to compete in a global economy and, hopefully, lead the way into a new era of successful entrepreneurship, then greater accountability is required.

The best means of achieving that is through choice. It is important to remember that public schools are not necessarily synonymous with a government monopoly on schools. Just as Albertson’s and Food 4 Less serve the public as privately owned grocers, so, too, can private schools play an important role in providing for the public’s education needs by expanding the realm of school choice.

Key Points

Private schools cost less. Nevada’s largest school districts currently spend between $11,000 and $14,000 per pupil when all expenditures are considered. On the other hand, 84 percent of private schools nationwide charge tuition rates of less than $10,000.

Private schools yield better results. Nationwide, students in private schools score almost two grade levels higher on standardized math and reading tests than do their government‐school peers. Also, graduation rates and the likelihood of attending college are far higher among private‐school students.

Every child can learn. It’s not just the wealthy elite who perform well in private schools. Low‐income beneficiaries of school choice programs in Milwaukee, Florida, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere have shown significant improvement after participating in choice programs for only a few years.

Choice improves government schools. Despite opponents’ claims that choice programs “cream” the best students away from government‐run schools, empirical evidence shows that the presence of alternatives leads to higher test scores and graduation rates for those who choose to remain in a government school.

Recommendations

Create a Public Education Tax Credit. Allow businesses facing a tax liability in Nevada — such as the Modified Business Tax, sales tax or gaming tax — to receive a dollar‐for‐dollar tax credit for donations into a scholarship fund that would finance the educational dreams of Nevada’s children. NPRI has already designed such a plan, which can be found on its website.

Establish a “Recovery School District.” Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize failure factories. If a government school cannot meet the educational needs of Nevada families, then it should close and have its staff reorganized and, potentially, be converted into a charter school. Lawmakers can model this change after Louisiana’s Recovery School District — a special statewide school district that helps failing schools transition into successful charter schools.

Expand the universe of charter schools. Charter schools are an important component of school choice. State laws governing charter schools should grant as much flexibility as possible to administrators and allow for open entry of online charter schools.

Geoffrey Lawrence is deputy policy director at the Nevada Policy Research Institute. For more visit http://npri.org.

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Geoffrey Lawrence

Geoffrey Lawrence

Director of Research

Geoffrey Lawrence is director of research at Nevada Policy.

Lawrence has broad experience as a financial executive in the public and private sectors and as a think tank analyst. Lawrence has been Chief Financial Officer of several growth-stage and publicly traded manufacturing companies and managed all financial reporting, internal control, and external compliance efforts with regulatory agencies including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Lawrence has also served as the senior appointee to the Nevada State Controller’s Office, where he oversaw the state’s external financial reporting, covering nearly $10 billion in annual transactions. During each year of Lawrence’s tenure, the state received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award from the Government Finance Officers’ Association.

From 2008 to 2014, Lawrence was director of research and legislative affairs at Nevada Policy and helped the institute develop its platform of ideas to advance and defend a free society.  Lawrence has also written for the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation, with particular expertise in state budgets and labor economics.  He was delighted at the opportunity to return to Nevada Policy in 2022 while concurrently serving as research director at the Reason Foundation.

Lawrence holds an M.A. in international economics from American University in Washington, D.C., an M.S. and a B.S. in accounting from Western Governors University, and a B.A. in international relations from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.  He lives in Las Vegas with his beautiful wife, Jenna, and their two kids, Carson Hayek and Sage Aynne.