Why is choice good?

We all know that when it comes to buying a vacuum cleaner, going out to dinner, or purchasing a new car, we have plenty of choices. The variety of options in the market means that if a restaurant serves terrible food or if a car dealership sells lemons, consumers will soon choose to spend their money elsewhere, and these disappointing businesses will disappear from the market.

In most places in the U.S., parents can choose from dozens of different vacuum cleaners, but they have little control over where their child goes to school. A school district assigns the student to a school based on the student’s zip code—an indicator that has nothing to do with that student’s unique learning style and needs. If the school fails to meet the child’s needs, parents have two options: Move to a different neighborhood where the school might be better for the child, or pay for private school tuition. If a family cannot afford these options, the child gets a substandard education, and the school continues to perform poorly, without consequence.

Now imagine if parents could choose which school their child would attend. Neighborhood schools would strive to adopt the best educational practices, hire the best teachers, and use the best resources to attract students (and the state dollars that go with them). Schools would be accountable to parents, who would be able to match their child’s needs with the best educational environment. Best of all, high-quality education would be available in every neighborhood in America, regardless of families’ socioeconomic status.

Charter schools are an essential component of a school system based on choice because parents choose to enroll their children. The same way that a market with a dozen vacuum cleaners leads to fair prices and high-quality vacuum cleaners, a market with many educational options—charter schools among them—leads to a much more important result: high-quality education for all students.