Chapter 17: Reconsidering Choice, Competition, And Autonomy As The Remedy In American Education

In this chapter, we focus on the policy and political implications of our findings from what is likely the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind, examining achievement in public and private or independent schools. According to the dominant logic, the fact that people are willing to pay for them would seem to indicate that private schools are thought to be superior. Yet the evidence presented here on mathematics achievement in nationally representative samples of schools suggests otherwise. Despite what many reformers, policy makers, media elites, and even parents may believe, public schools are, on average, actually providing a relatively effective educational service compared to schools in the independent sector.