A Lesson in School Choice

In the 1970s, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) developed a program to allow students to transfer to a school outside of their neighborhood. The goal was to integrate the district’s schools. A recent article in the Houston Chronicle provides an interesting lesson about school choice and the motives of the media.

According to the article, students from “neighborhoods of color”(black and Hispanic neighborhoods) are fleeing their neighborhood school to attend a school in “whiter” neighborhoods. And this, according to the article, is a problem.

If the goal of the program is to integrate schools, and black and Hispanic students are now attending classes with whites, it would seem that integration has occurred. But critics argue that schools in poorer neighborhoods don’t get the same resources as wealthier–i.e., white neighborhoods. If their neighborhood schools had the same resources as “white” schools, then students wouldn’t transfer. And this reveals the true motivation behind this article.

The fact that students have a choice and are exercising that choice to get a better education is considered a problem. The author of the article wants every student in HISD to get a “white quality” education in a “neighborhood of color.”

To be clear, this isn’t about skin color. This is about choice. Low-income parents, no matter their race or ethnicity, have little choice but to send their children to government schools. Unlike wealthier families, they cannot afford to pay taxes for government schools and also pay for private education. But at least they have a choice in which school that their children attend. And they are choosing the better schools in HISD. We should applaud that fact.

If the author was truly concerned about the education that students are receiving, he would investigate why students are transferring. He would look into what makes some schools better than others. He wants us to believe that it’s simply a matter of resources. But history has shown us that throwing more money at government schools does not improve them.