School Choice and Competition, Not Higher Spending, Improve Educational Outcomes
Source: "School choice in Louisiana and Florida outpaces NYC education spending | Fox News." August 14, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
The authors argue that just throwing more money at school systems doesn't improve student learning—pointing to NYC and Chicago, which spend a lot but have poor reading and math scores. Instead, they say Louisiana and Florida prove that letting education dollars follow individual students (through charter schools and voucher-like programs) leads to real academic improvement for everyone, not just the kids who use the choice programs.
Conclusion
States should stop funding school systems directly and instead let education funding follow individual students, expanding school choice and charter competition, because this approach produces better academic outcomes than high per-pupil spending in traditional public school systems.
Premises
- New York City spends roughly $36,000 per pupil (one of the highest in the nation) yet only 29% of eighth graders are proficient in reading, and most students in over half of studied schools failed both reading and math exams.
- Chicago increased education funding substantially, yet only 43% of students in grades 3-8 met reading proficiency and 27% met math proficiency in 2025, with even lower rates among eleventh graders and chronic absenteeism above 40%.
- Louisiana, which implemented the LA GATOR Scholarship Program (letting funds follow students to private tuition, tutoring, and other services) and expanded charter schools, ranked first nationally in reading growth and reported record-high student achievement.
- Florida, with over 20 years of school choice programs culminating in universal educational choice, shows that public schools facing more competition from scholarship programs had improved academic achievement, reduced absenteeism, and fewer disciplinary incidents—benefiting both choice and non-choice students.
- Florida charter school students outperformed district peers in 55 of 77 statewide academic comparisons, with 78% of charters earning an A or B accountability grade, and charter enrollment has grown to over 400,000 students.
- In Louisiana, charter school enrollment has grown over 9% since 2022 while traditional district enrollment declined, suggesting rising family demand for alternatives correlates with improved outcomes.
Assumptions
- The academic outcome improvements in Louisiana and Florida are primarily caused by school choice and charter policies rather than other confounding factors (e.g., different student demographics, other simultaneous reforms, or changes in testing standards).
- Per-pupil spending figures and proficiency metrics are directly comparable across cities and states despite different cost-of-living, student populations, and testing standards.
- Competition among schools inherently drives improvement and accountability rather than potentially causing resource fragmentation or harming schools that lose students and funding.
- Charter and choice program growth is evidence of quality and success rather than simply reflecting policy incentives, marketing, or dissatisfaction with underfunded traditional schools.
- The examples chosen (NYC, Chicago vs. Louisiana, Florida) are representative and not cherry-picked cases that support a pre-existing conclusion.