National education reform critic Diane Ravitch took to video recently to decry a privatization movement she claims is becoming so influential that charters and vouchers now amount to “a streamroller” that is “defunding” public schools.
In turn, Education Next editor-in-chief Martin West issued his own form of a fact-check. West cited a new study on private school enrollment conducted by Richard Murnane, professor of education and economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, that reflects evidence to the contrary:
- The share of students in K-8 private schools has dropped from 15 percent in the late 1950s to 9 percent in 2015.
- An even smaller share of students — 7 percent — now attends a private high school.
- Even if one views public charter schools as private, the share of students attending alternatives to the schools managed by their local school district has remained roughly stable over time.
Furthermore, Murnane writes that like public schools, private schools are segregated by income.
Murnane added that the number of middle-income students attending private schools has declined by “almost half.” By comparison, his report shows the number of wealthy children enrolled in private schools has remained steady.
Also noteworthy is private school enrollment among those who are affluent has shifted to nonsectarian schools from religious schools, Murnane’s report shows.
West explains the closure of many Catholic schools and rising tuition costs at religious and nonsectarian schools have contributed to the drop in private school enrollment.
I feel certain that Redefined understands concerns regarding the privatization of public education and other public goods are not nearly so simple as the Education Next article implied. This is embarrassing.