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Local Demand for a School Choice Policy: Evidence from the Washington Charter School Referenda

Author

Listed:
  • Sean P. Corcoran

    (Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University)

  • Christiana Stoddard

    (Department of Economics, Montana State University)

Abstract

The expansion of charter schools--publicly funded, yet in direct competition with traditional public schools--has emerged as a favored response to poor performance in the education sector. While a large and growing literature has sought to estimate the impact of these schools on student achievement, comparatively little is known about demand for the policy itself. Using election returns from three consecutive referenda on charter schools in Washington State, we weigh the relative importance of school quality, community and school demographics, and partisanship in explaining voter support for greater school choice. We find that low school quality--as measured by standardized tests--is a consistent and modestly strong predictor of support for charters. However, variation in performance between school districts is more predictive of charter support than variation within them. At the local precinct level, school resources, union membership, student heterogeneity, and the Republican vote share are often stronger predictors of charter support than standardized test results. © 2011 Association for Education Finance and Policy

Suggested Citation

  • Sean P. Corcoran & Christiana Stoddard, 2011. "Local Demand for a School Choice Policy: Evidence from the Washington Charter School Referenda," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(3), pages 323-353, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:6:y:2011:i:3:p:323-353
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    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/EDFP_a_00038
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    Cited by:

    1. David M. Brasington & Diane Hite, 2014. "School Choice: Supporters And Opponents," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(1), pages 76-92, January.
    2. Bich Thi Ngoc Tran, 2021. "Which Townships Support Charter Schools? A Study of the 2016 Massachusetts Charter Referendum," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(2), pages 865-880, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    school choice; charter schools;

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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