Lennie Jarratt
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The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) released a Policy Brief titled “School Choice Across the Globe.” The brief looks at the 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 25 of which permit private school participation via vouchers or tuition tax credits. One interesting statistic from the study is that “[o]n average, 14 percent of students in OECD nations attend public funded private schools.”
Based on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), these programs are showing great results.
“Outcomes of the 2009 PISA study indicate private school students, regardless of whether privately or publically funded, perform on average twenty-five points higher in reading than students who attend public schools.”
WILL specifically looked deeper into Chile, the Netherlands, and Sweden. A quick chart shows the school choice options available in each country.
| Chile | Netherlands | Sweden | |
| Universal Eligibility | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Equal school funding | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Income Based | Weighted | Weighted | No |
| Disability Weighted | 50 percent higher | Weighted | No |
| Voucher Worth | $3,000 | $6,465 – primary
$8,321 – secondary |
$10,150 – $11,278 |
| Private School Attendance | 40 percent | 76 percent | 15 percent |
| Majority Control | Local | Federal | Local |
WILL made the further comparison to school choice programs in Wisconsin.
| Wisconsin | |
| Universal Eligibility | No |
| Equal school funding | No* |
| Income Based | Yes |
| Voucher Worth | $7,210 elementary
$7,856 high school $12,000 disabilities |
| Private School Attendance | 8 percent |
| Majority Control | District |
*Ranges from 50–66 percent funding for choice students
Wisconsin is lagging behind other countries in school choice, as is all of the United States. Only Nevada has near-universal school choice. Nevada’s choice program has not started and is being challenged in court in two different cases.
Read the summary of the brief at http://www.will-law.org/will-blog-school-choice-across-the-globe/ and the full Policy Brief at http://www.will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2015-12-15-School-Choice-Across-the-Globe.pdf.
See the 2012 top 10 PISA rankings.
See the complete PISA rankings at the Friedman Foundation for Education Choice website.
