ERIC Number: ED357485
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1993-Feb
Pages: 51
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
What a Voucher Could Buy: A Survey of California's Private Schools.
Dianda, Marcella R.; Corwin, Ronald G.
The most controversial form of school choice is the voucher system, which allows families to use tax dollars, in the form of vouchers, to pay for tuition at private schools. The Parental Choice in Education Initiative, slated to be on the California June 1994 election ballot, will give residents the opportunity to vote on a statewide school-voucher program. A survey of private schools in the state was conducted to determine the availability, affordability, and accessibility of private schools to voucher-redeeming students from public schools. Highlights of the findings include the following: three quarters of the schools said they would participate in a voucher system; low- and medium-tuition schools are more likely to participate than high-tuition schools; most of the private schools are nearly full and those open to vouchers could expand by less than 15 percent without additional construction or staffing; without expanding, private schools could accommodate less than one percent of public school enrollment. Two other findings are that 60 percent of the schools charge less than $2,600 per year, the amount for which vouchers could be redeemed; and private-school enrollment is 40 percent minority and contains few low-income or non-English-speaking students. The body of the report details each of these findings and illustrates them with 22 tables and 8 figures. An appendix includes a comparison of responding schools and private schools statewide and a description of survey development and administration. (JPT)
Descriptors: Admission (School), Educational Change, Educational Vouchers, Elementary Secondary Education, Enrollment Influences, Enrollment Projections, Parochial Schools, Private Education, Private Schools, Public Schools, School Choice, School Surveys
Southwest Regional Laboratory, 4665 Lampson Ave., Los Alamitos, CA 90720.
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: Far West Lab. for Educational Research and Development, San Francisco, CA.; Southwest Regional Lab., Los Alamitos, CA.
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A