The Hidden Demand for Private Schooling
One area of concern for policymakers when deciding to create or expand voucher programs is how big is the latent demand for private education. After all, policymakers know that parents who use private schools truly want their children enrolled there. Not only do these parents decline free public schools, they value private education so highly that they willingly expend additional family resources on tuition.
However, removing some or all of the cost of tuition through vouchers would open private schools to nearly everyone who wants to attend them—regardless of income. The question of how many parents would choose private schools if a voucher were available to them is an important budgetary consideration when contemplating the creation or expansion of a voucher program.
The research of Terry Moe, a Stanford University political scientist, found that absent monetary issues most public school parents (52 percent) would be interested in private schooling if money were not an issue.[1] Another survey conducted by Public Agenda, a nonprofit public opinion research organization, polled an even higher figure of 57 percent.[2] These statistics suggest that many parents choose their current school because the high cost, under the current system, of sending their children to private school.
The latent demand for private education is important for urban revitalization. It is often cheaper for middle class parents seeking a different education environment for their children to move to the suburbs than to pay property taxes and private school tuition. Unlike their poorer neighbors, they possess the wherewithal to exit a public school system that is not meeting their educational needs.
If education alternatives were available through a voucher for private schooling, cities would have a better chance of retaining middle class residents in search of better education opportunities for their kids. In 1997, the Calvert Institute conducted a unique survey of Baltimore families who had left Baltimore for a surrounding suburb. Had vouchers been available, more than one quarter of the households said they would have “definitely considered” remaining in the city.[3]
Not all parents interested in going private will necessarily do so if given a choice. There is evidence, however, that if “middle class” vouchers existed, a not too insignificant portion of the population would be interested in utilizing one.
Notes
[1] Terry Moe, “Hidden Demand: If Given A Choice, Who Would Switch To Private Schools And Why?” Education Matters 1 (Spring 2001): 48-55. Quotation is from page 51.
[2] Moe, “Hidden Demand,” 51.
[3] Douglas P. Munro, “Reforming The Schools To Save The City, Part II: Survey Shows School Choice Would Prevent Middle Class Flight From Baltimore,” (Baltimore, MD: Calvert Institute for Policy Research, August 1997).
Danielle Mendola is a fomer research intern with The Buckeye Institute. Joshua C. Hall is a senior fellow with The Buckeye Institute.
