Publications – Research & Commentary: Time is Now for Education Freedom Accounts in New Mexico – The Heartland Institute

Proposed legislation in the New Mexico House of Representatives would set up Education Freedom Accounts, an education savings account (ESA) program for New Mexico students. If passed, the ESAs would be available to parents of public school children to pay for tuition, curriculum, and fees at private and parochial schools. The funds could also be used to pay for textbooks, uniforms, tutoring services, computers and other approved hardware, instructional materials, and educational therapies and services. The ESAs could also be used to cover the fees required to take national standardized achievement tests, such as the SAT or ACT.

The accounts would be funded in the amount determined by the department to be equal to the average amount spent by the state and school districts on public school students. If a participating student has a disability or is an English language learner, a homeless student, a low-income student, an at-risk student or a special education student, the amount deposited to that student's education freedom account shall include any weighted funding that would have been provided to a public school for a similar public school student.

Copious empirical researchonschool choice programssuch as ESAs finds they offer families improved access to high-quality schools that meet their childrens unique needs and circumstances, and that these programsimprove academic performance and attainmentand deliver a quality educationatlower costthan traditional public schools. Additionally, these programsbenefit public school studentsand taxpayers by increasing competition,decreasing segregation,andimproving civic values and practices.

Research also shows students at private schools areless likelythan 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 astrong causal linksuggesting private school choice programs improve the mental health of participating students.

It is probably for these reasons, and also because teacher unions have repeatedly played politics with school closings during the COVID-19 pandemic in direct conflict with students best interests, that ESAs are more popular with parents than ever before. Polling done by EdChoice released in December 2020 found81 percent supportfor ESAs among the general public and 86 percent among current school parents, the highest level of support the program has received in the organizations eight years of polling on the issue. This represents a 4-percentage point increase over 2019. These findings are mirrored in the American Federation for Childrens seventh-annualNational School Choice Poll,released in January 2021, which saw 78 percent support for ESA programs.

The school a child attends should not be determined solely by his or her ZIP code. However, this is currently the case for most children in New Mexico. The proposed ESA program would be the perfect first step in bringing choice options to New Mexico families.

The goal of public education in the Land of Enchantment today and in the years to come should be to allow all parents to choose which schools their children attend, require every school to compete for every student who walks through its doors, and make sure every child has the opportunity to attend a quality school. There has not been a time when providing these opportunities has been more urgent and more needed than right now. Legislators should recognize that and allow families as many options as possible to get their children the education they need and deserve.

The following documents provide more information about education savings accounts and education choice.

The 123s of School Choicehttps://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/123s-of-School-Choice.pdfThis 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.pdfThis 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.

Child Safety Accounts: Protecting Our Children through Parental Freedomhttps://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/publications/CSAccountsPB.pdf

In thisHeartland Policy Brief, Vicki Alger, senior fellow at the Independent Womens 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 Americas 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 childs physical or emotional health.

The Public Benefit of Private Schooling: Test Scores Rise When There Is More of Ithttps://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa830.pdfThisPolicy Analysisfrom 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.

The Effects of School Choice on Mental Healthhttps://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3272550This study from Corey DeAngelis at the Cato Institute and Angela K. Dills of Western Carolina University empirically examines the relationship between school choice and mental health. It finds that states adopting broad-based voucher programs and charter schools witness declines in adolescent suicides and suggests that private schooling reduces the number of times individuals are seen for mental health issues.

The Effects of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program on College Enrollment and Graduation: An Updatehttps://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99728/the_effects_of_the_florida_tax_credit_scholarship_program_on_college_enrollment_and_graduation_0.pdfIn this update to a 2017 Urban Institute study, authors Matthew Chingos, Tomas Monarrez, and Daniel Kuehn find students participating in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program are 99 percent more likely to enroll in a four-year college, and 56 percent more likely to graduate, than their public school peers.

The Effects of Statewide Private School Choice on College Enrollment and Graduation: Evidence from the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Programhttps://www.heartland.org/publications-resources/publications/the-effects-of-statewide-private-school-choice-on-college-enrollment-and-graduation-evidence-from-the-florida-tax-credit-scholarship-programThis study from Urban Institute scholars Matthew Chingos and Daniel Kuehn shows Floridas Tax Credit Scholarship Program boosted college enrollment for participating students by 15 percent, with students enrolled in the program for four or more years seeing a 46 percent hike.

Fiscal Effects of School Vouchers: Examining the Savings and Costs of Americas Private School Voucher Programshttps://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Fiscal-Effects-of-School-Vouchers-by-Martin-Lueken.pdfIn this EdChoice study, Director of Fiscal Policy and Analysis Martin F. Lueken examined the fiscal impact of voucher programs across Americafrom their inception through fiscal year 2015to determine whether they generated costs or savings for state and local taxpayers. Lueken found these programs generated cumulative net savings to state and local budgets of $3.2 billion. This represents a $3,400 savings per voucher recipient.

Nothing in thisResearch & Commentaryis 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, visitSchool Reform News, The Heartland Instituteswebsite, andPolicyBot, Heartlands free online research database.

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Publications - Research & Commentary: Time is Now for Education Freedom Accounts in New Mexico - The Heartland Institute