Testimony: What the Florida McKay Program Can Tell Us About Bringing Special Education Vouchers to Ohio
Members of the committee, thank you for allowing me to testify before you this afternoon. My name is Greg Forster. I am a senior fellow at the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation. I have a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. I have conducted eight empirical statistical studies on education policy. My work has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Teachers College Record. And I am a co-author of Jay Greene's recent book on education research, Education Myths.
One of our local partners in Ohio, the Buckeye Institute, has asked me to talk to you about my empirical research on vouchers and special education. Of all the education issues I've studied, this is one of the most difficult to talk about. The public school system does a good job with many of its disabled students. The teachers and staff in public schools are good people, working hard to cope with a difficult task. But everyone seems to agree that there are serious problems with the system, and we must confront the fact that significant numbers of disabled students are not being properly served in public schools. School vouchers offer those students a chance to get the education they deserve.
There are two major misconceptions about vouchers and special education. The first misconception is that private schools won't serve disabled students. The second misconception is that disabled students don’t need school choice, because the problems with special education in public schools can be solved with higher spending.
The suggestion that private schools won't serve disabled students is not consistent with the evidence. For six years, Florida has had a school voucher program for special education students. It is currently the largest voucher program in the nation, with about 16,000 participants. Jay Greene and I conducted the only empirical evaluation of the program. We found that private schools were serving disabled students significantly better than their previous public schools.
- Two thirds of participating families reported that their previous public schools did not provide all the services they were required to provide under the federal special education law. By contrast, only 12% reported that their private schools didn't provide services they promised to provide.
- The average class in their private schools was half as large as the average class in their public schools (13 students v. 25 students).
- Students were victimized by their peers far less often. About half of participants were bothered often by other students in their public schools because of their disabilities, and about a quarter had been physically assaulted in public schools. Only about 5% of students were bothered or assaulted by other students in their private schools.
- Behavior problems among participating students were drastically reduced as well (from 40% having behavior problems to 19%).
- We also found that students were served about the same regardless of race, income, or disability type.
Perhaps the most powerful testimony is what we heard from parents who had left the program. About 10% of parents who were in the program in the previous year were no longer participating. If there were any serious problems with the program, these would be the parents who would have experienced them. But they also reported that their private schools had served them better than their previous public schools. Over 90% of them said the program should continue for others, even though they were no longer using it themselves.
The second misconception is that the problems with special education in public schools can be fixed with more money. This is a complicated topic, and I would be happy to speak about it in greater detail during the question-and-answer time. For now, however, I will just point out that in addition to the question of resources, there are also structural problems with the special education system in public schools. These structural problems have defied numerous efforts to fix them. In fact, special education spending per student has been steadily increasing for decades, and there is no sign that the problems are being alleviated by these increased resources.
Perhaps most importantly, the process of fixing special education in public schools will take a long time. By then it will be too late for the students who are currently being underserved. They need an alternative now. The empirical evidence shows that school choice will give them a better education.
Members of the committee, thank you for your time, and I will be happy to take any questions you have.
Greg Forster is a senior fellow at the Milton and Rose D Friedman Foundation in Indianapolis, Indiana.
