School Choice and State Legislative Policy Outcomes

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Abstract

School choice programs have long been a topic of debate across American state legislatures. As school choice policies expand and become increasingly divisive, more studies are examining support for school choice policies within these legislatures. This paper examines how party control over state legislatures impacts the passage of state-funded school choice programs. It was my expectation that state legislatures controlled by Republicans would have a greater number of school choice policies than states with Democratic-controlled legislatures. This paper utilizes the Correlates of State Policy Project (CSPP) to study the passage of state-funded school choice programs across all 50 states between 1913-2010. Using a more extended time period than previous studies, I find that states with Democratic-controlled legislatures lead to a greater passage of state-funded school choice programs. Analyzing school choice and legislative control from a broader timespan provides further context into the growth of school choice programs. Additionally, it provides historical insight into why recent expectations of Republican-controlled legislatures and higher amounts of school choice policies adopted may be inconsistent with earlier patterns of support.

Author

• Amanda Purter, Vanderbilt University and University of Houston