CCI released a number of studies by Jay Greene demonstrating the power of school choice. In The Education Freedom Index , Dr. Greene ranked each of the fifty states according to the degree of freedom they afford parents to choose how to educate their children. In the Charlotte study, Dr. Greene found that students who use vouchers to attend private schools demonstrate more academic progress than similarly situated children who attend public schools. And in the Florida A-Plus study, Dr. Greene found that Florida schools whose students could have received vouchers exhibited larger gains on Florida s achievement test than did other Florida public schools. Dr. Greene is currently working on a book summarizing the state of research on voucher programs.
Charter schools are another promising, choice-based reform.
Charter schools are public schools that are freed from most regulations and mandates, giving school administrators, teachers and parents the opportunity to form innovative and productive schools. Over thirty states have now enacted this reform and hundreds of thousands of children across the country are now enjoying enhanced educational opportunity because of these schools. Our experts will continue to study the performance of these schools and provide ideas on how the charter revolution can best be implemented. Existing public schools can be made better if proper attention is paid to academic standards and teacher quality. Our experts will continue to show how academic standards can be drafted that are ambitious, realistic and result in real improvement in achievement.