Searching for the Tipping Point - Scaling Up Public School Choice Spurs Citywide Gains

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai

A policy preface frames elementary and secondary public education as a core national institution for equal opportunity, civic unity, and social mobility, while highlighting worsening public dissatisfaction tied to learning losses and persistent achievement gaps. It argues that neither party has responded effectively to calls for reduced inequality, stronger academic rigor, and greater parental voice. Against privatization narratives, it presents evidence that public school choice, especially charter models, can reduce inequality by improving outcomes for low-income and minority students, including equity-focused “gap-busting” schools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages53

Reading Time2 h 14 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Seizing on Success

Scaling Up Public School Choice

Evidence on Equity and Achievement

Searching for the Tipping Point: Scaling Up Public School Choice Spurs Citywide Gains TRESSA PANKOVITS PREFACE BY WILL MARSHALL PROGRESSIVE POLICY INSTITUTE OCTOBER 2024 @ppi | @progressivepolicyinstitute | /progressive-policy-institute SEARCHING FOR THE TIPPING POINT: SCALING UP PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE SPURS CITYWIDE GAINS Preface SEIZING ON SUCCESS As the 2024 presidential election enters the final stretch, public concerns about the cost of living, immigration, abortion, and U.S. foreign policy have been crowding out other pressing national issues. One that deserves a lot more attention than it’s getting is the state of America’s elementary and secondary public schools. That’s not unusual, since public schools are mostly a state and local responsibility. But our pre-K-12 schools are also vital national institutions. Public education is the chief way America makes good on its promise of equal opportunity for all citizens. And by teaching children what it means to be an American, our schools fortify the shared ideals that define the common bond of citizenship in our amazingly diverse democracy. If our schools aren’t doing their job, inequality and civic disunity result. Especially hurt are low-income families, rural Americans, Black and Hispanic parents, and children of immigrants who see better schools as their best hope for social mobility and a shot at achieving their American dreams. Past presidents understood this: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama all made reforming our outdated K-12 model to reduce inequality and raise academic standards for all students a top priority. More recently, however, our national leaders have taken their eye off the ball. Meanwhile, long school closings and deep learning losses during the Covid pandemic; the outbreak of culture war battles over race and gender; wide achievement gaps along race and class lines; and U.S. students’ lackluster performance on international tests of proficiency in reading, math, and science are feeding the public’s growing dissatisfaction with their public schools. Just over half of U.S. voters (51%) say the country’s public pre-K-12 education system is headed in the wrong direction. Only 16% express satisfaction with public schools, and 32% say they aren’t sure.1 To put it mildly, leaders of neither political party are responding with alacrity to public demands for change, reduced inequality, increased academic rigor, and greater parental voice in their public schools. SEARCHING FOR THE TIPPING POINT: SCALING UP PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE SPURS CITYWIDE GAINS On the contrary, many Republicans seem to be giving up on public schools altogether. In recent years, red states have passed laws expanding “universal voucher” bills, education savings accounts, and tax credits that allow even the wealthiest families to redirect public dollars to private schooling. Republican support for vouchers isn’t new. In the past, however, conservatives at least pretended to be concerned about low-income and minority parents whose children are too often trapped in bad urban schools. Now it’s clear their idea of “school choice” is to give conservative parents strong financial incentives to move their kids to private schools. This is not a popular position, even among working-class voters (defined as those without a college degree) who tend to vote Republican. In a survey of these voters’attitudes commissioned by the Progressive Policy Institute earlier this year, six in 10 voters say “tax dollars should go to funding high-quality public schools, while parents should have to pay for private and religious schools if they choose to enroll their child in one.”2 Just one-third support letting parents use “tax dollars to put their kids in private or religious schools.” If Republicans are going all-in for school privatization, Democrats nationally appear to have outsourced their K-12 policy to teachers’ unions fighting rearguard actions to defen

FAQs

Why does the preface emphasize elementary and secondary public schools?

It presents public education as the main mechanism for equal opportunity and a foundation for shared civic ideals. It also argues that failing schools produce inequality and civic disunity, especially harming low-income families and children of immigrants.

What dissatisfaction with public schools is described around the 2024 election?

The text links growing dissatisfaction to long school closings and learning losses during the Covid pandemic, culture war conflicts, persistent achievement gaps by race and class, and weak performance on international tests.

What evidence is used to support the claim that school choice can reduce inequality?

The preface cites a Stanford study indicating that charter schools can produce superior student gains even with a more challenging student population. It further highlights autonomous charter schools that close achievement gaps, described as “gap-busting” schools.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai