• How to Start and Grow a Think Tank
• Grassroots Leadership Guide to K-12 Education Reform
  • Prologue
  • Decide What Type of Organization You Want to Become
  • Building and Maintaining an Effective Board
  • Get Things Up and Running
  • Legal Reference Material
  • Organize Your Staff and Volunteers
  • Examples of Programs and Operational Materials
    • Overview
    • Suggested Questions to Ask Before Starting a Project
    • School Choice Plans
    • Sample Education Program Overview
    • Sample Project: Leveraging Reform from the No Child Left Behind Act
    • Markets Aren't Magic: School choice improves K-12 education, but only if it's properly structured
    • Marketing Idea: Greatest Scam on Earth
    • Eight Week Event Checklist
    • Sample Speaker's Itinerary
    • Glossary of Terms
  • Building Coalitions
  • Getting Your Message Out/Media Relations
  • Talking with Legislators
  • Raising Money
  • History of School Choice
  • Education Reform Research and Resources
  • Resources
• Taking Donors Seriously
• Fundraising Fundamentals

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Markets Aren't Magic: School choice improves K-12 education, but only if it's properly structured

Compiled by the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

Competition has tremendous power to improve performance. By liberating us from monopoly and restrictions, it makes it possible for everyone to choose the right options for his or her own needs. And by harnessing incentives, competition ensures that we get better services. That's why a large body of empirical studies has shown that school choice improves the performance of public schools - with competition, schools have to teach children successfully or risk losing them.

But there's no magic power that ensures that every program called "school choice" actually creates a free market in education. Competition only happens when students, schools, dollars and consequences are set free from monopolistic regulation.

Don't restrict students - markets need lots of customers
You don't have a market if you don't have enough customers. Failing public schools won't bother to improve if only a handful of kids can credibly threaten to leave with school choice; you have to empower a large enough number of families for their collective voices to be heard. School choice programs should offer choice for all students, not just some.

Don't restrict schools - markets need diverse providers
You don't have a market if all providers must provide the same service in the same way; that's just another form of monopoly. Regulations covering things like health and safety, fiscal soundness and color-blind admissions at participating schools are reasonable. But other than that, school choice programs should let parents and schools decide what educational policies are best.

Don't restrict dollars - in the market, money is power
You don't have a market if customers don't have the funds to buy needed services, or if they aren't allowed to spend more to buy better services. Every additional dollar provided by school choice increases parents' ability to buy a better education. School choice programs should give parents the same money public schools get, and should allow them to supplement the voucher or scholarship with their own money.

Don't insulate public schools - markets need consequences for failure
You don't have a market if providers don't lose money when they provide lousy services. Unlike other school choice programs, research shows that the Washington D.C. voucher program isn't improving D.C. schools - because the school system doesn't lose a dime no matter how many students leave with vouchers. School choice programs should tie dollars to students so that good schools are rewarded and bad schools aren't.