School Choice

Richard A. Sokerka

A new study, “Fiscal Effects of School Vouchers,” authored by Martin Lueken, reports that voucher programs across the country have saved taxpayers billions of dollars.

He analyzed 16 voucher programs in nine states plus the District of Columbia. The conclusion: voucher programs have generated a “cumulative net savings to state and local budgets worth $3.2 billion from when they were launched to FY 2015.” This equates to $3,400 in savings per voucher recipient. In 2015 alone, voucher programs have saved taxpayers a whopping $408.5 million.

However, school choice opponents often claim that voucher programs deprive district schools of funding while district costs remain the same. According to the report, “If it was true that schools have high fixed costs, and by extension there are no savings from enrollment declines, then it follows that there would be no added costs when enrollment increases. Of course, this is not the case. To be sure, it is common for public school officials to testify in front of appropriations committees to request more funding because they anticipate enrollment growth. In reality, both revenues and costs change with enrollment, though not in perfect unison.” According to the report, “No fiscal analysis of any voucher programs in the United States that accounts for both costs and savings — including this one — has found that students exercising choice through voucher programs results in a net negative fiscal impact on taxpayers.”

The study concludes emphatically that vouchers save rather than cost taxpayers money. “Though it is true that district schools experience revenue declines when students leave them to participate in school choice programs, it is also true that schools experience relief from the costs to educate them. When school choice critics claim these programs ‘drain’ resources from public schools, they tend to focus on the revenue side of the coin while ignoring the cost side. Whether intentionally or not, today’s school choice programs are designed in ways that generate cost savings for taxpayers. In essence, this occurs primarily because the cost of voucher awards is typically set at significantly lower levels than the cost to educate students in district schools.”

Here in New Jersey, where our elected officials and the N.J. Education Association, have steadfastly turned their collective noses up at providing school choice to parents, the average school district spent $20,849 per student during the 2016-17 school year.

Is it any wonder that New Jersey’s property taxes are the highest in the nation? It’s due in the most part because the property tax bill in this state is driven upward by the enormous school funding portion included in it.

It is time for our politicians to finally recognize that not only is school choice every parent’s right in order to give their children the best possible education, but it is also a proven way to stop the yearly escalation of the state’s property tax rate that is out of control.