Fiscal Factbook: 2025 Edition.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	Fiscal Factbook: 2025 Edition.
Authors:	Weber, Mark¹
Source:	Education Review (10945296). 2025, Vol. 32, p1-10. 10p.
Subject Terms:	Educational vouchers, Public education financing, Data analysis, Education savings accounts, School privatization, Educational finance, Fiscal policy, Policy analysis
Abstract:	As enrollments in school privatization programs grow, advocates continue to argue that school vouchers and education savings accounts (ESAs) have positive effects on public school finances. In its Fiscal Factbook: 2025 Edition, EdChoice, a well-known advocate of school privatization, presents a collection of data points offered in support of two core claims: that vouchers and ESAs save taxpayers money, and that public schools benefit financially when they experience enrollment losses due to such programs. The data provided, however, do not constitute evidence supporting those assertions. The claim, for example, that per-pupil public school funding has increased substantially even as school privatization has grown, is undermined by the report's use of an inappropriate inflation adjuster. Furthermore, correlations between aggregate spending across the nation and school voucher growth are meaningless when privatization programs, as well as many other factors affecting costs, vary greatly among states. Similarly, simple comparisons of privatization programs' expenditures and public school spending do nothing to inform a comparative analysis of each sector's cost, especially when differences in student populations and outcomes are omitted. These, and other faulty attempts to use data to back up its claims, render the report useless for informing school funding policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	As enrollments in school privatization programs grow, advocates continue to argue that school vouchers and education savings accounts (ESAs) have positive effects on public school finances. In its Fiscal Factbook: 2025 Edition, EdChoice, a well-known advocate of school privatization, presents a collection of data points offered in support of two core claims: that vouchers and ESAs save taxpayers money, and that public schools benefit financially when they experience enrollment losses due to such programs. The data provided, however, do not constitute evidence supporting those assertions. The claim, for example, that per-pupil public school funding has increased substantially even as school privatization has grown, is undermined by the report's use of an inappropriate inflation adjuster. Furthermore, correlations between aggregate spending across the nation and school voucher growth are meaningless when privatization programs, as well as many other factors affecting costs, vary greatly among states. Similarly, simple comparisons of privatization programs' expenditures and public school spending do nothing to inform a comparative analysis of each sector's cost, especially when differences in student populations and outcomes are omitted. These, and other faulty attempts to use data to back up its claims, render the report useless for informing school funding policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	10945296