Vouchers Integrate Better
by Robert Fanger

Private schools participating in Cleveland and Milwaukee's school voucher programs are much less segregated than the public schools counterparts, according to two landmark studies released by the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation and in Ohio with The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions. The studies find that students using the voucher program have a more integrated school experience in private schools, contrary to claims that school vouchers lead to greater segregation.

"The widespread claims that private schools have high segregation levels and vouchers will lead to greater segregation are empirically unsupportable," said the study's author, Friedman Foundation Senior Fellow Greg Forster. "In these two cities voucher students attend schools that are less segregated than the public schools. School vouchers have the potential to break down neighborhood racial barriers in a way public schools can't match," added Forster.

The findings for "Segregation Levels in Cleveland Public Schools and the Cleveland Voucher Program" are:

• Private schools participating in Cleveland's voucher program are 18 points less segregated than Cleveland public schools on the segregation index, which compares the racial composition of schools to the racial composition of school-age children in the greater Cleveland metropolitan area (consisting of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina Counties).
• To put this finding in perspective, in a metro area whose school-age population was 50 percent white, a school that was 60 percent white and a school that was 78 percent white would differ by 18 points on the segregation index.

The findings for "Segregation Levels in Milwaukee Public Schools and the Milwaukee Voucher Program" are:

• Private schools participating in Milwaukee's voucher program are 13 points less segregated than Milwaukee public schools on the segregation index, which compares the racial composition of schools to the racial composition of school-age children in the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area (consisting of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha Counties).
• To put this finding in perspective, in a metro area whose school-age population was 50 percent white, a school that was 60 percent white and a school that was 73 percent white would differ by 13 points on the segregation index.

The study also examined segregation levels nationwide and found no substantial difference between public and private schools.

"This study confirms the findings of six other studies in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Washington D.C. finding that private schools in voucher programs are less segregated than public schools," said Robert Enlow, Executive Director of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation. "The plain truth is that the scare tactics of school choice opponents don't hold up, particularly in light of the evidence in  Cleveland and Milwaukee that strongly suggests school choice may tear down the walls of segregation."

Robert Fanger is Communications Director of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation. The findings for "Segregation Levels in Cleveland Public Schools and the Cleveland Voucher Program," which can downloaded at http://www.friedmanfoundation.org/cleveland.pdf. The findings for "Segregation Levels in Milwaukee Public Schools and the Milwaukee Voucher Program," which can be downloaded at http://www.friedmanfoundation.org/milwaukee.pdf.