School Vouchers? No: Funds would act as tuition discount for rich

State Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) is pushing a school voucher plan that calls for a voucher for $5,000 per year to be given to any parent who chooses to move his or her child to an accredited private school. Johnson claims his bill will enable parents whose children attend failing schools to enroll them in a private school.

We all are concerned about poorly performing schools and we all want children to attend better schools. However, some of the “facts” he cites to support his proposal are questionable.

In an AJC op-ed, Johnson said, “The average private school tuition among the state’s 662 private schools is $5,800, according to a 2008 survey.” When asked about this figure, Johnson said, “The survey was conducted by economists for the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation in 2008.”

The Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation is an organization dedicated to promoting school vouchers. Brian Gottlob, the author of the 2008 study and a senior Foundation fellow, told me that current tuition figures were not available at the time that he conducted the study. Accordingly, he based his estimate on some national figures from several years earlier, adjusted for inflation and the education cost index for Georgia.

There never was a 2008 tuition survey. Gottlob acknowledged that the $5,800 figure is outdated and that he would guess that the average tuition now would be closer to $7,000, though that is still just a guess.

Although the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation is a leading pro-voucher think tank that does not claim to be objective on this topic, I was impressed by the fact that Gottlob’s study attempted to address some crucial questions that a taxpayer would want answered.

For example, would tax dollars be used to help children in failing schools attend private schools as Johnson claims? Based on the study, that appears highly unlikely. Several factors determine whether poor children or wealthy children are most likely to receive vouchers, including the amount of the voucher vs. the tuition. Less wealthy families can afford to pay little or none of the cost beyond the amount of the voucher.

For wealthy families, however, the voucher would function as a tuition discount. One way to preserve the vouchers for lower- and middle-income families is to set an income cap on voucher eligibility. Johnson’s bill does not contain a cap. Rich and poor alike would get the same voucher.

According to the Friedman report: “The elasticity of demand for private schooling is much lower among lower-income families, meaning they are less likely to participate in a scholarship program than higher-income families regardless of the value of the scholarship.”

It’s likely that there would be a gap of about $2,000 between the voucher and the average private school tuition. Moreover, parents of children attending private schools know the costs do not end with tuition. Books, activities, lunches and transportation are costly as well. As a result, low- to middle-income families would probably find it more difficult to take advantage of the vouchers than would more affluent families. Based on the Friedman Foundation study, Johnson’s bill would likely end up primarily benefiting wealthier families, many of whom don’t need any assistance from hard-pressed taxpayers to pay for private school tuition.

What happens after the first year of the voucher program? When a $7,000 tuition becomes a $15,000 tuition several years later in high school, will the voucher still be for $5,000? On what basis will the amount be increased? Taxpayers need answers to these questions.

How do you, as a taxpayer, feel about vouchers? If you are hoping for some tax dollars to help you send your child to a private school, you might like them. If you were hoping they might be part of a solution to end failing schools, think again.

If the concept is as popular as Johnson claims, why not put it up to a vote of the people rather than leaving the decision to the General Assembly?

• Ann Abramowitz is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University.