What Do America’s “Traditional” Forms of School Choice Teach Us about School Choice Reforms?

[...]The purpose of this paper is to answer threerelated questions. First, what general facts can we learn byexamining the traditional forms of school choice in theUnited States? In particular, we need to understand thegeneral relationship between school choice and five factors:(1) student achievement, (2) student segregation (alonglines of ability, income, and taste for education, as wellas race and ethnicity),1 (3) school efficiency, (4) teachers’salaries and teacher unionism, and (5) the degree to whichparents are involved in and influence their children’s schools. Second, how do the general facts that we garnerfrom traditional school choice carry over to analyses ofreforms such as charter schools, vouchers for privateschools, and open enrollment programs? Third, what informationdo we still need if we are to predict accurately theeffects of reforms? And, what empirical strategies mightwe pursue to get such information?[...]