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Events • March 22, 2021 

# Choice Does Not “Siphon” Public School Money: A Primer 

COVID-19 has powerfully impacted K–12 schooling, making it especially clear that no single school can serve all diverse children and that families need options. As a result, at least 28 states have seen legislation introduced this year to increase or expand private school choice. Unfortunately, a myth that has long dogged school choice continues to stand in the way: that choice “siphons” money from public schools. In this forum, Ben Scafidi and Martin Lueken, who tackle the siphoning myth in the new Cato book [*School Choice Myths: Setting the Record Straight on Education Freedom*](https://www.cato.org/books/school-choice-myths), will furnish a primer for dispelling the myth, explaining why it makes little sense generally and debunking it specifically for two states currently looking to expand choice.

## Additional Resources

- *[School Choice Myths](https://www.cato.org/books/school-choice-myths)* by Neal McCluskey and Corey A. DeAngelis
- *[The Fiscal Effects of Private K–12 Education Choice Program in the United States](https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Fiscal-Effects-of-Private-K-12-Education-Choice-Program-in-the-United-States-1.pdf)* by Marty F. Lueken
- *[An Analysis of the Fiscal and Economic Impact of New Hampshire’s Proposed Education Freedom Account (EFA) Program](https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/Analysis-of-SB-130-EFA-Program.pdf)* by Ben Scafidi

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

##### Benjamin Scafidi 

##### Martin Lueken 

[![Neal McCluskey Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-11/mccluskey-cropped.jpg?itok=I-QI0yJD)](/people/neal-mccluskey) 

##### [Neal McCluskey](/people/neal-mccluskey)

Former Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute