News Release

October 26, 2000

Choice boosts parental involvement-a key to student achievement
Study finds school choice programs earn high grades from parents

WASHINGTON-Research shows that greater parental involvement in a child's education typically improves that child's achievement, yet the current structure of the K-12 education system tends to marginalize parents, giving most of the control over a child's education to the government, school boards and bureaucrats, according to a new Cato Institute study.

In "More Than Grades: How Choice Boosts Parental Involvement and Benefits Children," educational consultant Philip Vassallo argues that "the monopolistic practice of directing all public education funding to public schools has created not only a financial stranglehold on the public but a moral vacuum in society by weakening parental authority. Choice frees parents from the shackles of bureaucratic controls and strengthens their capacity to participate in their children's education."

Vassallo examines the feedback from parents in programs like charter schools, vouchers and private tuition scholarships and finds that, "with regard to their children's academic programs, parents who participate in choice programs are at least as involved as, and often more involved than, parents are generally." Not only were school choice parents more likely to work directly with their children on academics, but they also contacted school officials more often, were more likely to attend school events and parent-teacher conferences, and played a stronger role in the maintenance of the school.

As parents received greater control and influence over their children's education, they became more satisfied with the new options. "Across the board, studies . . . indicate that parents are much more satisfied with their new schools than they were with their previous schools," says Vassallo. Choice parents gave their new schools higher marks than the public schools earned and were more likely to be "very satisfied" with their children's education than were public school parents.

"Once empowered to assume the full measure of their responsibility to support their children's education, parents will become partners with educators in creating and maintaining the schools their children need," says Vassallo. "State legislators should seek policies that return control of education to parents through mechanisms like tax cuts and universal tuition tax credits."

"More Than Grades: How Choice Boosts Parental Involvement and Benefits Children"