A private universal voucher program’s effects on traditional public schools

Nathan L. Gray, John D. Merrifield, Kerry A. Adzima

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)319-344
Number of pages26
JournalJournal of Economics and Finance
Volume40
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Finance
  • Economics and Econometrics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A private universal voucher program’s effects on traditional public schools'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this