Indianapolis Study Documents Benefits of Vouchers

By Mark Walsh

Indianapolis public school children who used privately financed vouchers to enroll in private schools eventually outperformed those who stayed in public schools, according to a new study from the Hudson Institute.

The Educational Choice Charitable Trust, established in 1991 by a prominent Indianapolis businessman, provides grants of up to $800 to low-income families to cover half the cost of private school tuition. The program was the first of 20 or so such programs nationwide that tap into private funds to help a limited number of poor children attend private schools and, ultimately, to try to demonstrate the effectiveness of vouchers.

The Indianapolis-based Hudson Institute is a conservative policy organization known for its support of vouchers and other forms of educational choice. With researchers from Butler University, also located in the city, it has studied the choice...