Research & Commentary: Test Scores Show Mississippi Needs More Education Choice

Published August 29, 2019

The latest results of the annual Mississippi Academic Assessment Program statewide test show only 41 percent of Magnolia State students are proficient in English language arts (ELA). Only slightly better, just 47 percent are proficient in mathematics. Surprisingly, these scores are actually higher than the results from 2017–18.

Although the most recent test scores are an improvement, Mississippi public schools are still failing to bring roughly six out every 10 of their students to proficiency in math and ELA. That is simply unacceptable and highlights the need for a change from the status quo.

Mississippi public schools need more competition, and students need more options. These goals could be achieved by establishing a universal education savings account (ESA) program.

Mississippi currently offers the Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Program, an ESA for special-needs students. However, eligibility for this program is limited to just 19 percent of Mississippi students. In 2018, only 356 Mississippi students participated in the program.

Copious empirical research covering ESAs and other school choice programs shows they offer families improved access to high-quality schools that meet their children’s unique needs and circumstances. Moreover, these programs improve access to schools that deliver quality education inexpensively. Additionally, these programs benefit public school students and taxpayers by increasing competition, decreasing segregation, and improving civic values and practices. 

Students at private schools are also less likely than their public school peers to experience problems such as alcohol abuse, bullying, drug use, fighting, gang activity, racial tension, theft, vandalism, and weapon-based threats. There is also a strong causal link suggesting private school choice programs improve the mental health of participating students.

The potential economic impacts of ESAs in Mississippi were detailed in a 2018 report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Mississippi State University’s Institute for Market Studies, which estimated a universal ESA program could, due to increasing high school graduation rates and a decrease in criminal activity, result in more than $1.6 billion in accrued economic impact to the state. These impacts include up to 7,800 more high school graduates by the year 2036, leading to $1.6 billion in social benefits, as well as a reduction in the number of felons of 10,000 over the same time period and a reduction in the number of misdemeanants by close to 14,000, producing a $384 million reduction in social costs. They also estimate a universal ESA could cause Mississippi to move out of its current position, last place, in per-capita personal income. The improvement, a $2,300 growth in per-capita personal income by 2036, could happen in just 14 years, the researchers say.

December 2017 Empower Mississippi poll revealed 65 percent of Mississippians support expanding the state’s current ESA program into a universal program. Further, 62 percent stated they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports the expansion of the ESA program. (It should also be noted 91 percent of participating parents report being satisfied with the state’s special-needs ESA, according to a December 2018 report from the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review.)

Private schools are also enthusiastic about the prospect of school choice programs. A 2018 survey from Empower Mississippi found 64 percent of respondents would likely participate in a voucher program similar to an ESA, if one were available. On the other hand, only 9 percent said they would be unlikely to participate. The report also claims there are currently 7,800 seats to 10,350 seats available for students in private schools throughout the state. Thousands of Mississippi students could take advantage of these openings if private school choice programs are expanded.

Although an attempt to pass a universal ESA failed in the Mississippi State Legislature in 2019, supporters of education freedom hope lawmakers will take a closer look at the popularity and efficacy of school choice programs in 2020. It is time to reform Mississippi’s mediocre public education system. Mississippi families (and private schools) are ready for a universal ESA program. Public schools should not hold a monopoly on education. By implementing a universal ESA program, legislators can ensure all Mississippi children have the opportunity to attend a quality school.

The following documents provide more information on ESAs and education choice.

Mississippi’s Game Changer: The Economic Impacts of Universal School Choice in Mississippi
http://www.will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/flanders_and_deangelis_ims_small.pdf
This report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Mississippi State University’s Institute for Market Studies estimates more than $1.6 billion in economic impact could accrue because of an increase in high school graduation rates and a decrease in criminal activity resulting from the implementation of a universal ESA program.

Mississippi Statewide School Choice Survey
https://empowerms.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017-MS-School-Choice-Poll.pdf
According to this poll of 503 likely voters by Empower Mississippi, 77 percent of Mississippians support giving parents the right to use the tax dollars associated with their child’s education to send their child to the public or private school that best serves their needs. Further, 65 percent support expanding the state’s ESA program for students with special needs into a universal program that would be available to every student in the state.

Exploring Mississippi’s Private Education Sector: The Mississippi Private School Survey
http://empowerms.org/new-report-private-schools-mississippi-think-school-choice/
This survey from Empower Mississippi shows private schools in the Magnolia State have a high interest in participating in expanded school choice programs and have the space to accommodate thousands of additional students.

The 123s of School Choice
https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/123s-of-School-Choice.pdf
This report from EdChoice is an in-depth review of the available research on private school choice programs in America. Areas of study include: private school choice program participant test scores, program participant attainment, parent satisfaction, public school students’ test scores, civic values and practices, racial/ethnic integration and fiscal effects.

A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice (Fourth Edition)
http://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/A-Win-Win-Solution-The-Empirical-Evidence-on-School-Choice.pdf
This paper by EdChoice details how a vast body of research shows educational choice programs improve academic outcomes for students and schools, saves taxpayers money, reduces segregation in schools, and improves students’ civic values. This edition brings together a total of 100 empirical studies examining these essential questions in one comprehensive report.

Protecting Students with Child Safety Accounts
https://heartland.org/publications-resources/publications/protecting-students-with-child-safety-accounts
In this Heartland Policy Brief, Vicki Alger, senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum and research fellow at the Independent Institute, and Heartland Policy Analyst Tim Benson detail the prevalence of bullying, harassment, and assault taking place in America’s public schools and the difficulties for parents in having their child moved from a school that is unsafe for them. Alger and Benson propose a Child Safety Account program, which would allow parents to immediately have their child moved to a safe school – private, parochial, or pub­lic – as soon as parents feel the public school their child is currently attending is too dangerous to their child’s physical or emotion­al health.

2018 Schooling in America Survey: Public Opinion on K–12 Education, Parent and Teacher Experiences, Accountability, and School Choice
https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018-12-Schooling-In-America-by-Paul-DiPerna-and-Michael-Shaw.pdf
This annual survey from EdChoice, conducted in partnership with Braun Research, Inc., measures public opinion and awareness on a range of K–12 education topics, including parents’ schooling preferences, educational choice policies, and the federal government’s role in education. The survey also records response levels, differences, and intensities for citizens located across the country and in a variety of demographic groups.

The Public Benefit of Private Schooling: Test Scores Rise When There Is More of It
https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa830.pdf
This Policy Analysis from the Cato Institute examines the effect increased access to private schooling has had on international student test scores in 52 countries. The Cato researchers found that a 1 percentage point increase in the share of private school enrollment would lead to moderate increases in students’ math, reading, and science achievement.

Competition: For the Children
https://heartland.org/publications-resources/publications/competition-for-the-children
This study from the Texas Public Policy Foundation claims universal school choice results in higher test scores for students remaining in traditional public schools and improved high school graduation rates.

 

Nothing in this Research & Commentary is intended to influence the passage of legislation, and it does not necessarily represent the views of The Heartland Institute. For further information on this subject, visit School Reform News, The Heartland Institute’s website, and PolicyBot, Heartland’s free online research database.

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