Search

This paper recommends replacing the existing U.S. school choice system, which relies on the housing market to ration educational opportunity, with one that creates a level playing field upon which schools compete for students, and students and their parents exercise choice. Section 1 describes the current school choice system, which works well for middle- and upper-income families but fails low-income families. Section 2 examines whether failing schools are to blame, discussing whether the fault lies with the students or the lack of resources at low-performing schools. Section 3 discusses choice outside the housing market, noting various models in use: public school choice, privately and publicly funded vouchers, and tax credits and deductions. Section 4 examines the effects on student performance of school choice, noting that nationwide evidence supports the contention that allowing parents to choose their school improves children's test scores, especially for African American students. Section 5 discusses the effects on public schools of school choice, examining whether choice programs cream the best students, what happens to the test scores of students who remain in public schools, and the effects of choice on public school finance. Section 6 discusses the effects of choice on racial integration. Section 7 examines the effects of choice on teacher pay. (Contains 69 endnotes.) (SM)

This report makes a quantitative and qualitative assessment of four concerns as they apply to school choice in Texas schools: (1) parents of students participating in choice programs select schools for reasons having little to do with academic quality; (2) school-choice plans that allow the use of taxpayer money at private schools will drain resources from the public-school system; (3) there will be few open seats available at private schools that choose to participate in a choice plan; and (4) transportation is a barrier to effective choice plans. The report is divided into four parts: Why Parents Choose Schools; Fiscal Impact of School Choice; Prospects for Private-School Entry; and Access to Transportation. Findings indicate that low-income parents provide widespread support for school choice, that the variable cost of a Texas public-school student is 87 percent to 93 percent of the total annual operating expenses, that the existing supply of private-school vacancies is extremely small in relation to the population of students that will be eligible for school choice, and that transportation will not be a major stumbling block if participating private schools provide the same services as comparable public schools. The document concludes with a strategy for implementing school choice in Texas. Contains 22 references. (RJM)

The most widely used pension plans in the United States are defined-benefit plans under which employers pay workers a fixed pension, usually a percentage of their final salaries. Defined-contribution pension plans, under which employers and employees set aside funds that are invested for the employees, are growing in popularity and are particularly common in colleges and universities. Profit-sharing plans, voluntary savings plans, and individual retirement accounts are types of defined contribution plans. Pension plans commonly receive advantageous tax treatment, but efforts are currently being made to eliminate these advantages for defined-contribution plans. This report reviews the operational differences between the two types of pension plans and notes the levels of performance achieved by each. The problems posed by defined-benefit plans are analyzed. These include severe losses to employees changing employers, the potential for manipulation of defined-benefit plans by employers to their own advantage, the underfunding of the plans, their low rates of return, and their susceptibility to the effects of inflation. The report concludes that eliminating tax advantages for defined-contribution plans would be a serious mistake, hindering labor mobility, restricting retirement income, and decreasing funds available for investment. (PGD)