Choice won't hurt schools, expert says

"I have never found any situations where school choice hurts public schools."

That's what Caroline Minter Hoxby, an economics professor at Harvard University professor, told me.

I asked Hoxby about the effect "choice" programs have because she has spent years studying the impact on students who left public schools and the schools they left behind. The academic performance of both groups improved, she's found.

In a recent article she wrote: "If every school in the nation were to face a high level of competition both from other districts and from private schools ... the productivity of America's schools, in terms of level of learning at a given level of spending, would be 28 percent higher than it is now."

"The fact that South Carolina has low scores and many disadvantaged students now would make me expect that choice would have a more positive effect on the public schools than I would expect if it had high scores already and few disadvantaged students," Hoxby told me via e-mail.

I remain skeptical of the Put Parents in Charge act being considered by the S.C. General Assembly. But my primary concern - that it could hurt public schools - has been alleviated. Hoxby's research shows all students could benefit from true choice.

And Gov. Mark Sanford's office has told me they expect enough businesses to use tax credits to provide plenty of scholarships for families who don't earn enough to benefit from the tax credits themselves. I'd like to see more evidence that they will indeed step in to help with tuition and transportation costs before I'm fully sold, though.

A study by the S.C. Board of Economic Advisors showed those most likely to benefit would be home-schoolers and private school students - not those transferring from underperforming schools.

I'd like to see a change because I was a student in one of those unfunded S.C. schools. I was able to succeed because of the skill of a handful of masterful teachers and a strong support system at home. But I struggled early in college to catch up with classmates who had been exposed to concepts and courses in high school my school simply couldn't afford.

I'll say again as I've said before. I have yet to hear a convincing argument that students should be forced to remain in underperforming schools simply because they were born in the wrong neighborhood. The focus should be on providing them real choice - giving them a chance to get out.

ONLINE | To read past columns, go to Bailey's page at MyrtleBeachOnline.com.