I much prefer complete separation of schools and state, but given that such a separation is unlikely, I’m confident that vouchers are a second-best option.
Editor, ProPublica.org
Editor:
In her critical report on support for school vouchers, Ava Kofman parrots fallacies when she writes that “vouchers undermine church-state separation while also draining resources from public schools” (“A Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built the Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas. That’s Just the Start.” Oct. 2).
First, vouchers allow parents, not government, to choose the schools their children attend. This feature of vouchers no more undermines church-state separation than does the fact that the GI Bill allows its beneficiaries to spend government funds to pay for tuition at schools such as Notre Dame, Yeshiva, and Liberty University.
Second, the school-choice enabled by vouchers will “drain” money from public schools only if public schools fail to offer education that is at least equal in quality to the education offered by private schools. The ability of Americans to buy GM and Toyota automobiles doesn’t “drain” resources from the Ford Motor Co. as much as it incites Ford (and GM and Toyota) to offer high-quality products. And just as it’s absurd to think that Ford would maintain the quality of its automobiles if it were protected from competition, it’s absurd to think that public schools maintain the quality of their instruction given their current protection from competition. Ms. Kofman’s confidence that vouchers will drain public schools of funds implies that she’s confident that public schools will not or cannot provide education as well as can private schools. Can you or Ms. Kofman articulate a sound reason why public schools should not lose funds if, in competition with private schools, they are unable to offer education at least comparable in quality to that of private schools?
By shielding public schools from the account that would be delivered by competition, your opposition to school choice belies your boast that you “hold power to account.”
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
