Education Law

Do school vouchers lead to segregation?

There has long been a debate over school vouchers in the U.S. , but many other counties have also been experimenting with vouchers. In Chile, vouchers have long been available to provide parents the opportunity to choose their child’s school regardless of ethnic or socioeconomic class, but recent research has shown that such programs may still be promoting segregation.

The National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, has posted research by Gregory Elacqua  on their website reviewing  school choice and segregation between public and private schools in Chile and among different private sectors. His research revealed that even with vouchers, private schools serve a lower proportion of vulnerable and indigenous children than public schools and among private schools, those for-profit were more likely to enroll vulnerable and indigenous students than non-profit private schools.

BoardBuzz find this research from Chile interesting and hopes future research is done reviewing the affects of voucher programs around the world.  NSBA continues to oppose private school tuition tax credits and vouchers which divert funds from public schools in order to help subsidize the tuition of private and religious school students. For more information against vouchers, visit NSBA?s Voucher Strategy Center.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on February 19, 2010 (boomark / email).