Vouchers Would Save Millions

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Nancy Pomeroy
801.361.5284



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Utah Study Indicates Significant Savings
From School Vouchers
Empirical Research Proves Millions Would be Saved

Salt Lake City, UT — February 1, 2007 — A study of the fiscal impact of school choice in Utah shows that a state school choice program could save approximately $26 million each year. Released today by The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy and the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, (founded by Nobel laureate in economics, Dr. Milton Friedman) and Parents for Choice in Education (PCE), the study provides credible evidence that no local school district would suffer a net loss of funds as a result of the introduction of a school voucher program. It also identified the potential additional savings from school vouchers for each district throughout the state and suggests that as the percentage of children using vouchers increases education expenditures and tax rates decline. "The detailed analysis completed by Dr. Susan Aud, senior researcher, and professor teaching Quantitative Methods in Political Science Research at the Paul H. Nitze School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University shows that a statewide choice program won't hurt schools financially. In fact, quite the opposite is true.

“Local schools would receive more money to educate fewer students—bottom line" said, ________________ of The Josiah Bartlett Center.
Key Findings

Utah public schools receive $6,325 in revenue per student, including $3,508 from the state, $2,220 from local sources, and $597 from federal sources.
A universal voucher program that allowed Utah parents to use a portion of their state education funding to attend schools of their choice, public or private, would reduce the need for more teachers and classroom space in the public school system, or, alternatively, help the state reduce teacher-student ratios.

If 2 percent of public school parents participated in the voucher program — a participation rate well below the 5 percent rate achieved by Ohio’s new voucher program in its first year of operation in 2006 — it would remove about 9,662 students from the public school system in the first year.

Such a universal voucher program would result in a net fiscal savings of about $700,000 in the first year, and the savings would grow as the program grew.


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Study Proves Vouchers Could Save State Millions Page 2

Because not all school revenue varies with enrollment levels, local Utah school districts would retain about $2,674 in revenue for each student who left with a voucher — a financial windfall that would total about $26 million per year.

"We’ve always known that school vouchers would be a net gain for Utah public schools, Utah taxpayers and Utah’s children," said Elisa Peterson, executive director, PCE.
"Now we have research that proves it." For a copy of the study's results, methodology and conclusions please visit:
About the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy
http://www.jbartlett.org The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy is a non-profit, non-partisan, independent think tank focused on state and local public policy issues that affect the quality of life for New Hampshire's citizens. The Center has as its core beliefs individual freedom and responsibility, limited and accountable government, and an appreciation of the role of the free enterprise system. The Center seeks to promote policy that supports these beliefs by providing information, research and analysis.
About the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation http://www.friedmanfoundation.org The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, dubbed "the nation's leading voucher advocates" by the Wall Street Journal, is a non-profit organization established in 1996. The origins of the foundation lie in the Friedman's long-standing concern about the serious deficiencies in America's elementary and secondary public schools. The best way to improve the quality of education, they believe, is to enable all parents to have a truly free choice of the schools that their children attend. The Friedman Foundation works to build upon this vision clarify its meaning to the general public and amplify the national call for true education reform through school choice.

About Parents for Choice in Education
www.choiceineducation.org
Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) is dedicated to the improvement of education in Utah through meaningful parental choice. We believe that publicly supported education is vital to the strength of our state and that real options should be made accessible and available to everyone regardless of income or geography. We believe in parents and their ability to make the best education choices for their children whether through public, charter, or private schools. We envision and work to achieve a vibrant education system, offered through diverse, competitive providers focusing on the child, not the system.
Since its founding in November 2000, PCE has taken the lead role in advocating for school choice reforms in Utah