A recent article on The Center Square reported on a study showing school choice could lead to billions in economic benefit. | Stock Photo
A recent article on The Center Square reported on a study showing school choice could lead to billions in economic benefit. | Stock Photo
Rep. Jason Saine (R-Lincoln) recently praised an article in The Center Square about school choice.
The concept of school choice involves set amounts of government education funds given to parents to use to pay for their educational choice.
The Lincoln County Republican representative, who served on the Education-K-12 committee in 2017, is a keen supporter of school choice. In his Oct. 13 Facebook post, Saine said the article did a "fantastic job," giving compelling reasons why school choice is a good option for North Carolina.
The Center Square's Oct. 7 article focused on research by two groups, conservative think tank Civitas Institute and libertarian think tank Reason Foundation. Together, they released a study authored by Corey DeAngelis, director of school choice for the Reason Foundation, which reported a North Carolina education savings account program could result in better learning, savings for taxpayers and higher earnings for graduates, among other improvements.
"Statewide education savings accounts would put the power in the hands of families by funding students instead of school systems, just like we already do with many other taxpayer-funded initiatives," wrote DeAngelis in the study.
Researchers determined there could be billions of dollars in economic benefit if a statewide savings account program were implemented by studying the effects of a current savings account program by North Carolina, which gives disabled students up to $9,000 a year toward education at a non-public school or homeschool, The Center Square reported.
Taxpayers could save $2,483 per student if they switched from public schools, DeAngelis said, reported by The Center Square.
The American Educational Research Association studied the effects of North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provided tuition assistance for students to attend private schools. In the first year of study for scholarship recipients, the examination found math testing scores increased by 36% and language testing scores improved by 44%.
The Civitas and Reason Foundation study reported 17 other studies supported similar trends, The Center Square reported.
In the study, DeAngelis estimated a child who spends 12 years in private schools could earn $249,000 more in annual income than a publicly educated student, as reported by The Center Square.
The Center Square article also reported that higher graduation rates are connected to higher earning and lower crime rates, citing the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and a RAND Corporation study.
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