Why Do People Support Charter Schools and Vouchers? An Analysis of Trends in Public Support for School Choice Policies

• In Event: Roundtable Session 53
  In Roundtable Session: Family and Public Engagement, School Choice, and Charter Schools

Abstract

School choice advocates posit that there is a larger market for school choice policies than the currently observed distribution of school choice policies suggests. Yet to date, most school choice programs predominantly serve minority and low-income families. In order to better understand the dynamics of school choice, this study examined people’s motivations for supporting charter schools and vouchers. Specifically, this study focused on three explanations of support for choice found in the literature: demand for racially/socioeconomically homogeneous schools, dissatisfaction with traditional public schools and political partisanship. I find evidence supporting each motivation, and, using a multilevel model, I find that the effects of each predictor vary by state. The implication is that charter school markets vary markedly by state.

Author

• Jonah Liebert, Teachers College, Columbia University