Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Policymakers, school choice advocates, education media, and school choice researchers need to know how private school marketplaces in states have changed in terms of how many schools exist, open seats, potential and current school choice program participation, student-teacher ratios, how long students are in school, how large classes are, their religious affiliation, association membership, and the racial makeup of students, among other data points. This study looks private school marketplaces in Arkansas, Arizona, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Texas by analyzing data from statewide surveys conducted in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The following list is comprised of the applicable data points: number of K–12 open seats; number of schools potentially and currently participating in statewide education savings account programs; number of schools potentially and currently participating in statewide tax-credit scholarship programs; number of schools potentially and currently participating in statewide voucher programs; number of schools with high or very high concern with various regulations; average and median tuition and fees charged by private schools; proportion of schools in each tuition range, by grade range; number of schools providing tuition assistance; number of schools serving students with special needs; number of private schools and students by county, type of community, and city; average and median private school size; most common grade spans for private schools; proportion of private schools offering PK; racial makeup of private schools; length of private school year and day; average and median student-teacher ratios, including by full-time equivalent; percent of schools identifying as religious and denominations represented; and association memberships. The authors explore: (1) what the private school marketplace looks like in five regionally different states, (2) how the student bodies look like in each private school marketplace analyzed, and (3) to what extent the student bodies are comparable to the public school marketplace and overall demographics of each state’s citizenry. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the most comprehensive study of the private school marketplaces in these states. It focuses on implications for the current and potential statewide school choice programs. The study should be highly relevant to policymakers and school choice advocates, who are closely involved in proposing, enacting, and expanding private school choice programs, as well as their subsequent and current implementation.