Giving parents the right to choose their child's school is failing to produce results in Milwaukee, according to a report released by the think tank Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.
The program gives parents the right to choose the top three public schools they would want their children to attend.
In theory, the competition for students among schools is supposed to boost test scores throughout the city, but the report states this is not happening.
According to the report, parents picking the neighborhood school or not assessing alternative schools are what hinder the ability of the program to raise school quality.
Parents simply do not appear sufficiently engaged in available choice opportunities or their children's educational activities to ensure the desired outcomes,"" the report said.
UW-Madison political science professor John Witte said the effect is the failure of standardized test scores to improve. If a competition effect similar to an economic market were occurring, scores would go up, Witte said, which has not been seen.
According to Witte, the exact data and collection method of the report are disputable, since some of the figures in the report approach a statistically unlikely 95 percent of cases. Despite this, he said the overall results the report conveys are largely true, with the schools not improving.
Witte also said school choice is having an unintended effect on the diversity of Milwaukee schools. Many black communities live on the north side of the city, and choosing the local school results in a school where almost all students are black, according to Witte.
Witte said even though the desired results have not yet been seen, he supports the program as a way to allow students to escape underperforming schools if they choose to leave.
Racial disparities in Milwaukee schools are not new, as combating racially separate schools was the original intent of some of the school choice programs in the city.
""This program dates back to the de-segregation days in Milwaukee,"" said Julie Mead, a UW-Madison professor of educational leadership and policy analysis.
