Here's a less-than-shocking headline for you: Parents in leafy suburbs have a wealth of high quality schooling options. That's the gist of a recent Wall Street Journal story that highlights several affluent areas where parents are moving their students out of private schools and into the local public institutions. Sure, they're making the move to save money as tuitions continue to skyrocket, but many parents also say their local public school provides an education just as good (or better) than the nearby private options. Some high-performing public schools are even actively recruiting youngsters away from area private schools. The Journal does point out that "Not all public schools are seeing these transfers: Top-scoring schools in affluent areas tend to get the highest influxes from private schools." You don't say? If private competition can catalyze better public schools in the suburbs, might it not do much the same for struggling schools in poorer areas, whose students have no such options? If the anti-voucher and anti-choice crowd has their way, we may never know.
"Opting Out of Private School," by Nancy Keates, Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2006, (subscription required)