Text 4792, 207 rader
Skriven 2007-08-01 02:32:00 av Bob Klahn
     Kommentar till en text av John Massey
Ärende: Private Schools Cost Less
=================================
 JM> Private Schools Cost Less Than You May Think

 JM> by David Salisbury

 JM> David Salisbury is director of the Center for Educational
 JM> Freedom at the Cato Institute.

 JM> Vouchers, tuition tax credits, and scholarships are being
 JM> awarded in a growing number of states and big cities as a
 JM> way of allowing more children to attend private schools,
 JM> rather than government-operated public schools. Wherever

 As opposed to those public schools not operated by the
 government?

 Mostly it's a way to slip money to church schools to buy votes.

 JM> these programs are implemented, critics claim that vouchers
 JM> or tax credits won't give children from poor families
 JM> access to private schools because the costs of such schools
 JM> are high. But are private schools really prohibitively
 JM> expensive? Not according to the numbers.

 Prohibitively expensive is a relative term. And a deceptive one.

 JM> The most recent figures available from the U.S. Department
 JM> of Education show that in 2000 the average tuition for
 JM> private elementary schools nationwide was $3,267.

 Now what was it for non-religious private schools? Religious
 schools are usually subsidized by their churches. There were at
 least three Catholic schools in Toledo that did not charge
 tuition at all. Where did they get their money?

 More at the end on this.

 JM> Government figures also indicate that 41 percent of all
 JM> private elementary and secondary schools -- more than
 JM> 27,000 nationwide -- charged less than $2,500 for tuition.

 Bet they were church subsidized.

 JM> Less than 21 percent of all private schools charged more
 JM> than $5,000 per year in tuition. According to these

 Secular elementary and high schools, religious and secular.

 JM> figures, elite and very expensive private schools tend to
 JM> be the exception in their communities, not the rule.

 Well...yeah... his point?

 ...

 JM> known. For example, many in Houston have heard about St.
 JM> John's or Tenney High School, where tuition runs over
 JM> $13,000 a year. But fewer Houstonians have likely heard of
 JM> Southeast Academy, Woodward Acres, or Pecan Street
 JM> Christian Academy, all of which charge less than $3,000 per
 JM> year, well below the city's private school average of
 JM> $4,468.

 Are those high schools or elementary? St John's is probably a
 Catholic High school. Catholic High schools tend to have much
 higher tuition, and don't get the subsidies elementary schools
 get. Which is why a lot of catholic children go to Catholic
 elementary schools, but public high schools.

 ...

 JM> Median private elementary school tuition in Denver is
 JM> $3,528. In Charleston, $3,150. In Philadelphia, $2,504. In
 JM> New Orleans, $2,386.

 That does mean half of them are above that.
 ...
 JM> In truth, according to a recent survey, the median per
 JM> student cost for private elementary schools in the District
 JM> of Columbia is $4,500, well below the mayor's "five
 JM> figures." Only 39 percent of D.C. private schools have
 JM> tuitions of $10,000 or more.

 Again, most are probably religious schools, subsidized by the
 churches. More at the end on this.

 JM> In all of these cities, the average private school cost is
 JM> significantly less than the amount spent for each student
 JM> in public schools. A voucher or tax credit worth the same

 Not available from anything in the above. The tuition is
 typically a portion of the cost. No public school has a cost of
 zero per student, does any private school? Yet, as above until
 recently three Catholic schools in Toledo had a tuition of zero.

 JM> amount spent per student in public schools would easily
 JM> give parents access to the bulk of private schools
 JM> available in their communities. With more parents able to

 No, that would give them the tuition. Access requires
 acceptance, and that requires room for them.

 JM> afford private schools, new schools would open to
 JM> accommodate the increased number of students.

 Ah, here's the rub. If Catholic schools can educate students for
 zero dollars, why aren't all the students in town enrolling in
 Catholic schools? Why aren't the Catholic schools expanding to
 accept them all? Easy, because the schools are subsidized by the
 diocese, and the diocese has a limit on how much they can
 subsidize. That limit will not be increased all that much by
 voucher students. IOW, the Catholic Church is not going to build
 enough schools to take on all the voucher students.

 JM> In Florida, where students can attend private schools under
 JM> several choice programs, the number of private schools in
 JM> the state is increasing as school choice programs become
 JM> more predominant. The percentage of Florida students
 JM> enrolled in private schools has risen from 9.31 percent in
 JM> 1992 to 12.5 percent in 2001. According to the Florida

 Which keeps it right around the national average. So, where's
 the explosion of private schools?

 JM> and philanthropic foundations have poured more than $76
 JM> million into Milwaukee's private schools since school
 JM> choice was implemented there. This growth in private
 JM> schools underscores the fact that the private education
 JM> sector responds to increased consumer demand.

 And to public (tax) money. Now, lets see if they can actually do
 the job.

 ...

 JM> stay in public schools. Studies in Florida, Milwaukee, San
 JM> Antonio, Arizona, and Michigan have all shown that, in
 JM> areas where school choice is available, public schools, in
 JM> one way or another, improve in significant ways, including
 JM> test scores and parental involvement.

 School choice is available everywhere in this country, without
 vouchers. Calling vouchers "choice" is a fraud.

 Now do those studies show whether that improvement is related to
 general trends, like lower unemployment? And do they show a
 comparison to schools in areas where there are no vouchers?

 JM> Fostering a more competitive market in education is
 JM> critical if the quality of education in inner cities and
 JM> elsewhere is to be improved.

 JM> Government monopolies -- and
 JM> that includes public schools -- tend to serve many or most
 JM> of their clients poorly, especially in a large and diverse
 JM> society.

 Not true. Govt monopolies, esp schools, tend to serve their
 clients very well, if they are operating in areas where the
 clients have money. In poor areas they have problems. Texas
 equalized the schools with tax transfers. Is Texas a liberal
 state?

 JM> Giving parents access to a growing, affordable,
 JM> and diverse supply of private schools will help ensure that
 JM> the current generation of American children receives a
 JM> quality education.

 Giving children access to quality public schools does the job
 just as well. Competition between public school systems is
 enough to bring them up, if the government bodies can be kept on
 topic. In areas governed by republicans, like Ohio and Michigan,
 they haven't done a very good job.

 As to those Catholic schools that use to have zero tuition, this
 year they are establishing a tuition of just over $4000/yr.
 Funny, the vouchers are just over $4000/yr. Oh, and a third
 Catholic school that had a tuition of around $2500/yr increased
 it to just over $4000/yr.

 Only thing it, the tuition will apply only to students with
 vouchers. They have run into a bit of a legal objection to that.

 We have always had school choice, just live where you like the
 school. That was the basis for real estate values being related
 to school quality. For years now we have had school choice in
 the form of charter schools. Public schools run by private
 companies. All the advantages, without the legal hassel.

 Vouchers are only for the purpose of getting tax money into
 churches. If they want the tax money for their schools, they can
 convert their schools to charter schools. One Toledo Catholic
 school was doing that, St Martin De Porres. They can give a good
 quality education, and teach morals, they just can't teach
 religion. So they do that outside school hours. Just like public
 school children get, if their parents want it.

 Years ago I was pointing out that there is nothing stopping any
 state from contracting out the operation of the public schools
 to private companies. Yet none have done that, not even states
 like Texas with no real union power. Why is that?

BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

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