School Choice: A Balanced Approach

by William H. Jeynes

Overview

Are public charter schools more effective than traditional public schools? This book provides quantitative evidence to answer this question and considers a better way to undertake a policy of school choice.

School Choice: A Balanced Approach is the most comprehensive examination of traditional public schools, public charter schools, and faith-based schools that has ever been undertaken. By considering and comparing the overall data on these three types of educational systems, it provides insight on likely outcomes of school choice programs. The author's objective is not to advance any particular agenda, but rather to provide readers with an unbiased analysis of research that has been embraced by both the G.W. Bush and Obama administrations that will allow for fresh thinking and the betterment of American education as a whole.

Author William H. Jeynes, PhD, asks vital questions regarding the school choice issue that are often overlooked: Which specific programs of school choice are likely to work, and which would likely fail? Is school choice really a boon for the private sector? How might the implementation of school choice programs increase or decrease the financial burden on government budget deficits? This book carefully addresses a relevant topic that ultimately affects every American, making it essential reading for everyone from government officials and educators to students and the general public.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440828355
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/25/2014
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

William H. Jeynes, PhD, is professor of education at California State University, Long Beach, and senior fellow at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, NJ.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Foreword ix

1 School Choice: The Main Arguments For and Against 1

2 A Meta-Analysis Examining the Effects of Public, Faith-Based, and Public Charter Schools 31

3 The History of School Choice Programs 73

4 Private versus Public Schools: The Private School Edge 95

5 Fairness and Taxation 121

6 The Politicized Nature of School Choice 133

7 What Will Be the Effects of School Choice? 147

8 Will Religious Schools Lose Their Distinctiveness? 159

9 School Choice: Hope for Inner-City Children and Children of Color 175

10 What Does This Mean for School Choice, and Where Does School Choice Go from Here? 189

References 201

Index 233

About the Author 245

What People are Saying About This

Dr. Carol M. Swain

"William Jeynes has written a critically important book for anyone concerned about public, private, and charter school education. After controlling for variables such as social class, race, and gender, Jeynes found that students who attended faith-based schools surpassed their public and charter school counterparts in educational achievement. Black and Hispanic students showed the greatest gains in closing the achievement gap. Jeynes’ book challenges us to place the needs of children and the preferences of parents above the fray of partisan politics."

Jack Klenk

"William Jeynes has reviewed almost a hundred studies on school types and student outcomes, and concludes that religious private schools compare favorably with public schools and charter schools. Religious private schools reduce the achievement gap for minority and low-income youth, and make other positive contributions. In other words, religious private schools work, a finding of no small importance for education reform. At a time when many inner-city religious private schools are closing for lack of finances, Jeynes believes choice plans should include them, but without imposing bureaucratic controls that would stifle the qualities that make them successful."

Bruce S. Cooper

"School choice is here to stay. And this important book by William Jeynes defines education choice for both rich and poor parents, wherever they may reside. Jeynes helps to explain those who seek and actually get educational opportunities, or do not, in public, private, religious, and nonsectarian K–12 schools. Importantly, this analysis makes it possible for us to understand—based on availability and resources—what effects these options have on everyone: children, families, schools, communities, and nation. Thus, make a choice to read this important book."