The Cost-effectiveness of Public and Private Schools of Choice in Wisconsin

ABSTRACT

I calculate the cost-effectiveness of private schools participating in school voucher programs, independent charter schools, and district-authorized charter schools, compared to traditional public schools in Wisconsin for the 2017–18 school year. I calculate cost-effectiveness by dividing the Accountability Report Card score for each school by the public dollars invested in each school. Using a cautious analytic approach, I find that private and independent charter schools tend to be more cost-effective than traditional public schools. The most cautious estimates from the regression models controlling for school-level student demographics suggest that independent charter schools and private schools of choice are 29 percent to 30 percent more cost-effective, respectively, than traditional public schools in Wisconsin. Cost-effectiveness does not differ between district-authorized charter school and traditional public school sectors.

KEYWORDS:

• School choice
• charter schools
• school cost-effectiveness
• school vouchers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. National Center for Education Statistics, Table 236.10. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_236.10.asp.

2. Accountability Report Cards. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://apps2.dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/.

3. Wisconsin – Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. EdChoice. Retrieved from https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/wisconsin-milwaukee-parental-choice-program/.

4. Statutory Report Series Legislative Report on Charter Schools 2013–2014. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sms/Charter-Schools/13-14%20Legislative%20Report%20Final.pdf.

5. Wisconsin. EdChoice. Retrieved from https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/state/wisconsin/.

6. Wisconsin. National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Retrieved from https://www.publiccharters.org/our-work/charter-law-database/states/wisconsin.

7. Wisconsin Charter Schools Quick Facts. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sms/Charter-Schools/Wisconsin_Charter_Schools_Quick_Facts.pdf.

8. Independent (2r or 2x) Charter Schools. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://dpi.wi.gov/sms/charter-schools/independent.

9. Charter Schools Informational Paper 27. Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Retrieved from https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/lfb/informational_papers/january_2019/0027_charter_schools_informational_paper_27.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2yUQs2usEqt1w6RAtm4zCDVJFr4Jv2_ogybWj8dkNOfQdNJRZN3G88SFY.

10. Accountability Report Cards. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://apps2.dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/.

11. Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sms/Choice/Data_and_Reports/2017-18/2017-18_wpcp_facts_and_figures.pdf; Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sms/Choice/Data_and_Reports/2017-18/2017-18_mpcp_facts_and_figures.pdf; Racine Parental Choice Program. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sms/Choice/Data_and_Reports/2017-18/2017-18_rpcp_facts_and_figures.pdf.

12. Wisconsin – Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. EdChoice. Retrieved from https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/wisconsin-milwaukee-parental-choice-program/.

13. Charter Schools Informational Paper 27. Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Retrieved from https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/lfb/informational_papers/january_2019/0027_charter_schools_informational_paper_27.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2yUQs2usEqt1w6RAtm4zCDVJFr4Jv2_ogybWj8dkNOfQdNJRZN3G88SFY.

14. School District Profiles. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from: https://apps4.dpi.wi.gov/sfsdw/Agency_Financial_profile.aspx.

15. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2014–15 (Fiscal Year 2015). National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018301.pdf.

16. Only students participating in choice programs are factored into the private school Accountability Report Card Scores.

17. Five charter schools (22 percent) and 159 private schools (57 percent) are missing accountability scores for the 2017–18 school year.

18. The city-level averages for funding and Accountability Report Card scores for each sector weight each school by total enrollment. These student-weighted averages were calculated for each city by the author.

19. Vouchers Tend to Serve the Least Advantaged. Education Next. Retrieved from https://www.edchoice.org/school_choice_faqs/who-uses-school-choice-programs/.

20. Who uses school choice programs? EdChoice. Retrieved from https://www.edchoice.org/school_choice_faqs/who-uses-school-choice-programs/.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by School Choice Wisconsin.