School Choice doesn’t Destroy Communities

Republicans who live in rural areas of Texas are generally opposed to school choice. They argue that government schools are the lifeblood of their community. Vouchers and similar programs will siphon money from those schools and lead to the degradation of the community. Reason reports that, in Florida, this hasn’t happened. School choice doesn’t destroy communities.

The article cites a study titled “Rerouting the Myths of Rural Education Choice” concludes that school choice is not a threat to government schools. In Florida, 83.3 percent of rural students attended government schools in 2021, down from 89.4 percent ten years earlier. This is certainly a decline, but it isn’t the catastrophe that many predict.

Rural defenders of government schools frequently argue that there are no private schools within a reasonable distance. However, the study found that from 2001 to 2021 the number of private schools in rural Florida nearly doubled. It shouldn’t be surprising that the supply of education alternatives expanded to meet the growing demand. But that demand can only come into existence if parents can afford alternatives to government schools.

When producers are free, they increase the supply of a value when the market demands it. That is what happened in Florida, and it will happen in Texas. Admittedly, private education alternatives won’t spew from the ground like an oil gusher, but they will pop up when and where there is a demand.

The defenders of government schools want to prevent that demand from ever becoming a reality. They want to make it virtually impossible for most Texas families to even consider an alternative to government schools.

The opponents of school choice want to impose their choices upon all parents. They support government schools, and they want to make it more difficult for others to make and act on a different choice.

As is often the case with contentious political issues, the school choice debate often focuses on isolated topics while failing to consider the full context. If we want to make the best possible decisions, we must look at the big picture. And that includes considering evidence that school choice doesn’t  destroy communities.