Study: Private school choice helps public school outcomes

A new study finds programs allowing families to choose private schools may also improve academic performance in nearby public schools.

Patrick Graff, a senior fellow with the American Federation for Children, examined Oklahoma’s Parental Choice Tax Credit program, along with earlier studies on education spending and school choice, to study the effects of school choice competition compared with traditional education spending.

He found competition from private schools actually improves outcomes for students who remain in public schools.

“The results are striking: scaling the tax credit scholarship program from 15,000 to over 100,000 students produced achievement gains for public school students that were, conservatively, over 11x larger than if that same funding had been used to increase state K-12 education budgets instead,” Graff writes.

A 2024 meta-analysis reviewed 31 studies on increased education spending. Researchers found adding $1,000 per student produced just one-third of a percentile increase in standardized test scores, which equals about five to six additional days of learning.

But Graff said competition created by school choice programs produces far larger gains.

“The effects of competition created a return on investment an order of magnitude larger than simply spending more,” Graff wrote.

Graff’s research dovetails with others’ to prove that policies giving families alternatives to government-run schools often push public schools to improve while expanding options for parents.

Indeed, researchers also studied Florida’s tax credit scholarship program from 2003 to 2017. During this period, enrollment grew from about 15,000 students to nearly 110,000, while public schools facing stronger competition improved significantly.

After 15 years, students in schools with above-median competition were about 120 days ahead in reading. Researchers also reported strong gains for low-income public-school students.

“The school choice approach contributed to an additional 120 days of learning, or two-thirds of a school year more, in reading as compared to the 6 additional days of learning via the school spending approach for the same amount of total funding,” Graff wrote.

In Oklahoma, 39,604 students now attend private schools through the tax credit program. The Oklahoma Tax Commission reports 56% of those students come from low- or middle-income families.

Oklahoma lawmakers created the program in 2024, providing refundable tax credits of up to $7,500 per child for families who send their children to private schools. The program is capped at $250 million per year.

Lawmakers there are now considering legislation raising the program’s cap, allowing more families to participate. Supporters say expanding the program would give more families access to schools that better reflect their educational priorities and values.

Public school funding in Oklahoma also has increased sharply in recent years. Total revenue rose from $6.3 billion in 2018 to $9.5 billion today.