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Legislators considering large scale school choice proposals want information on more than likely schooling outcomes. They look to their fiscal bureaus and economic studies to provide that information. The fiscal notes that must accompany all proposals with revenue or expenditure implications are especially important. Often, fiscal notes must be produced on short notice. The article assesses the fiscal notes that have accompanied the major U.S. charter law and tuition voucher proposals, and to highlight key issues and research needs it assesses fiscal and economic impacts of the proposed Texas (2011-HB 33) tuition voucher program. We assess fiscal notes in terms of research basis for predictions, predicted level of participation (# of choosers), and predicted basis for fiscal impacts, including time trend of effects. Finally, we propose how the fiscal notes might be improved; not just what legislative analysts should do, but also what could be done to make doing a better job easier. (Contains 6 tables and 10 notes.)

Pressing questions about the merits of market accountability in K-12 education have spawned a large scholarly literature. Unfortunately, much of that literature is of limited relevance, and much of it is misleading. The studies most widely cited in the United States used intense scrutiny of a few small-scale, restriction-laden U.S. school choice programs, and a handful of larger, but still restriction-laden foreign school choice expansions, to assert general conclusions about the effects of "choice," "competition," and "markets." The most intensely studied programs lack most or all of the key elements of market systems, including profit, price change, market entry, and product differentiation--factors that are normally central to any discussion of market effects. The school choice literature is partly driven by a self-fulfilling prophesy. Large steps toward full-blown market accountability are widely seen as too radical to be worthy of study, especially in the absence of directly relevant data. The studies of small-scale school choice programs soft-pedal the large differences between the choices available now and those that could be available under conditions that are the norm in most of the economy and then compound the political feasibility problem by connecting market terminology to the modest effects of the small-scale programs. To address the need for credible evidence of effects of genuine education markets, scholars should look to simulation models, indirect evidence such as outcomes in similar industries, and school systems abroad that enjoy varying degrees of market accountability. (Contains 10 notes.)

Studies of existing best practices cannot determine whether the current "best" schooling practices could be even better, less costly, or more effective and/or improve at a faster rate, but we can discover a cost effective menu of schooling options and each item's minimum cost through market accountability experiments. This paper describes experiments that would create opportunities for market entry and a price system to signal cost and quality benchmarks (current minimum costs) to families and educators to produce information for policymakers. The entry-price system combination has a great economy-wide track record because it harnesses highly dispersed knowledge about schooling practices and exploits self-interest through opportunities to compete. States or school districts can employ one of four possible market accountability experiments to assess what families want from among the schooling options educators prove to be willing to offer and at what cost: (a) large tax credits or a large universal voucher, (b) school district vouchers, (c) competitive contracting out of school management, and (d) charter law adjustments. This paper describes and compares those four ways to discover a cost-effective menu of schooling options and how much each costs, certainly a key element of one of the biggest policy challenges of our times, drastically improving the performance and efficiency of our K-12 system. (Contains 1 note.)

Pressing questions about the merits of full-fledged market accountability in K-12 education, and more limited choice programs, have spawned a large scholarly literature. This article assesses what we know from the most prominent studies and the importance of those findings to school system reform discussions. The studies most widely cited in the United States based their findings on small-scale, restriction-laden U.S. programs, and a handful of larger, but still restriction-laden, foreign school choice programs. The extensive restrictions and small size of those programs make them virtually irrelevant to the widely acknowledged transformational change imperative. Because the most intensely studied programs lack most, and sometimes all, of the key elements of market systems, such as profit, price change, market entry, and product differentiation, they don't help us determine whether unleashing market forces will produce more desired than undesired effects. However, absence of the key elements of market systems did not stop numerous analysts from stating conclusions about "markets," and "competition." So we know a lot about some of the policy approaches to increased school choice, but little about many policy approaches, and less than many people think we know. We know the most about programs and policies too limited in scope to yield much insight into reform policies capable of addressing the transformation imperative implied by the repeatedly alleged "nation at risk" problem. (Contains 203 notes.)

"Measuring Competitive Effects from School Voucher Programs: A Systematic Review" by Ann G. Egalite (p443-464, this issue) concludes that, "overwhelming [U.S.] evidence supports the development of market-based schooling policies as a means to increase student achievement in traditional public schools." Here, John Merrifield writes that, while he would agree there is strong evidence that market-based schooling policies could yield significant school system improvements, the evidence he is referring to is not the studies of U.S. school choice programs assessed by Anna Egalite's article. Merrifield states that this is because U.S. school choice programs did not generate any evidence of full-fledged markets in action (Merrifield, 2008). He says that something as common as genuine market forces needs to be more thoroughly assessed. He warns against making the assumption that there exists a solid body of evidence on the productivity of market-based educational reforms, where none exists, and fears that assumption could lead to numerous, and difficult-to-reverse policy errors. Merrifield posits that school choice program effects examined by Anna Egalite qualify as "quasi-market" (Barber, 2012, p. 215) outcomes; government-controlled entry, government-set prices, often a ban on profit, and programs that do not create a level playing field (or close) between public and private schooling options. With entrepreneurs entering or exiting regions on the basis of tuition-price signals indicating profit-loss potential, Merrifield comments that since we can only measure quasi-market effects from contemporary U.S. evidence, we need to turn to historic and foreign (Coulson, 2009) evidence to gain some insight on the differences between market and quasi-market outcomes. The article then asks the question: "Are quasi-market settings good market experiments, or are they dangerously misleading?"

K-12 education reformers have often cited increases in spending with little noticeable gain in test scores, coupled with the fact that American students lag behind their foreign peers on standardized tests, as a major policy problem. School choice, specifically voucher programs, have emerged as a possible solution to the K-12 education woes. This article focuses on what is commonly referred to as the 'systemic effects' of a private voucher program in the Edgewood Independent School District (EISD) in San Antonio, Texas. Using carefully chosen control districts and a robust econometric analysis, we conclude that the CEO Horizon Scholarship Program had small, positive effects on the traditional public schools of EISD. The rate of change growth, however, does slow as the voucher program nears the end of its term indicating that traditional public school participants need to believe that these programs are long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the local economic impact of a ten-year school choice scholarship program called the Edgewood Voucher Program (EVP), implemented in the Edgewood Independent School District (EISD) of San Antonio, Texas and taking place between 1998 and 2008. The program was implemented by the Children's Educational Opportunity (CEO) Foundation. The authors discuss the immediate effects of the EVP on economic development in the school district, including housing values and growth, business formation and the property tax base.

Legislators considering large scale school choice proposals want information on more than likely schooling outcomes. They look to their fiscal bureaus and economic studies to provide that information. The fiscal notes that must accompany all proposals with revenue or expenditure implications are especially important. Often, fiscal notes must be produced on short notice. The article assesses the fiscal notes that have accompanied the major U.S. charter law and tuition voucher proposals, and to highlight key issues and research needs it assesses fiscal and economic impacts of the proposed Texas (2011–HB 33) tuition voucher program. We assess fiscal notes in terms of research basis for predictions, predicted level of participation (# of choosers), and predicted basis for fiscal impacts, including time trend of effects. Finally, we propose how the fiscal notes might be improved; not just what legislative analysts should do, but also what could be done to make doing a better job easier. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Every school-age child in San Antonio's Edgewood school district was eligible for a large, privately-funded tuition voucher from 1998 to 2008. This paper evaluates the impact of this voucher program on residential property values in the Edgewood district. Based on realtor data (multiple listing service), the findings reveal that during the period of the voucher program there was a 9.87% increase in house prices during the early years of the program, although an increase of only 1.10% during the later years when eligibility requirements were tightened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benefiting from new data provided by experimental economists, behavioral economics is now moving beyond empirical tests of standard behavioral assumptions to the problem of designing improved institutions that are tuned to fit real-world behavior. It is therefore worthwhile to consider the potential for new experiments to advance school choice debates and the daunting task of institutional reform. Deciding which new institutions to introduce and test is an important scientific question. New institutional alternatives are, however, by definition, untested, and empirical arguments to guide this process are difficult to construct without adding more layers of theoretical assumptions. This article analyzes normative criteria that can be used when introducing new institutions for delivering school services. Because of the long time-frames for testing the effects of new institutions and the extraordinarily high stakes for children and families who participate in such experiments, performance metrics that are normally uncontroversial, such as cost minimization, will likely be insufficient for justifying the introduction of new institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is much interest in the effects of a larger parental role in schooling issues. That role can exist through voice--direct parental involvement in schools and participation in the political process that dictates schooling policies--or through choice from a menu of schooling options. This article addresses the limited understanding and confusion about the latter. The availability of genuine choice varies greatly with the policies (or lack thereof) aimed at expanding it. This article identifies the twelve ways to increase the availability and the affordability of schooling options and discusses the significant attributes of each. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the consequences of the voucher program which began in the Edgewood District of San Antonio, Texas in 1998. Comparison of the voucher program with other U.S. voucher programs; Background on the establishment of the voucher program; Eligibility for the voucher program; Issues that must be addressed with regard to the education system in the state.

In this article, the author reflects on an article by Anna J. Egaliteon, a research associate at the University of Arkansas, on the impact of school voucher programs and assessment of productivity of market-based educational reforms in the U.S. It highlights the development of market-based schooling policies to increase student achievement in public schools. He concerns about the effect of school choice program in creating a level playing field between public and private schooling options.

In this article, the author discusses several issues related to the journal. The journal has got a third sponsor, the E. G. West Institute for Effective Schooling (WIES). The 2009 WIES assessment of the 1998-2008 Edgewood Voucher Program that provides educational vouchers to residents of Edgewood district in the U.S. has found significant, immediate economic development effects on that area. The assessment has found that since any families moved to Edgewood to become voucher eligible there has been an increase in the business activity in that area. A list of educational issues as discussed in the previous issues of the journal is also included.

The article focuses on the CEO Horizon, 1998-2008, Edgewood Tuition Voucher Program funded by the organization, CEO Foundation. The tuition vouchers were for the Edgewood Independent School District (EISD), Bexar County, Texas residents from 1998 to 2008. All the applicants who met the district residency requirement got vouchers through the sixth year, 2003-2004. It has been found that the voucher program had significant positive impacts on single and multifamily housing numbers and market value, commercial development, and EISD test scores.