School Finance vs. School Choice

The ‘65 percent solution’ is no solution at all.

By Jonathan A. Plucker

Over the past 30 years, one of the country’s biggest free-market success stories has been the introduction of market-based reforms to K-12 education. Putting the focus on outcomes and choice, rather than on inputs and geography-based attendance, advocates for such reforms are beginning to do what many cynics thought would be difficult, if not impossible: reform American schools using market principles. The progress they have made is now being threatened, however, by a new school-finance regulation, known as the “65 percent solution,” that seems to be sweeping the nation, from statehouse to statehouse. ( "Group’s ‘65 Percent Solution’ Gains Traction, GOP Friends," Oct. 12, 2005.)

The potential toll of this type of measure is apparent from a review of the recent growth of market-based reforms. Estimates from the Alliance for School Choice suggest that at least 90,000 students participated in school choice programs in 2005, with a projection of more than 125,000 participating in 2006. Last year, 17 bills supporting school choice were passed in 11 state legislatures, though not all of them were signed into law. Charter schools, offering families both public and private alternatives to regular schools, have shown even more impressive growth. Figures from the Center for Education Reform indicate that, as of the fall of 2005, nearly 1.1 million students attended some 3,617 charter schools.

Granted, out of the roughly 49 million children in K-12 public schools, few are exercising choice. But each year, more states offer school choice options, and the growth in the number of families taking advantage of them is impressive and likely to continue. Personally, I favor public school choice (open enrollment) over public-private choice. But any well-meaning effort to help...