18 Sixty-one percent of Horizon parents are very satisfied with the academic quality of the school, as compared to 35 percent of public school parents. This difference is significant. While firm, long-term results are not yet possible, the initial findings are encouraging. The Horizon program also demonstrates the extent to which some parents will go to obtain a good education for their children. Some 105 Horizon scholarship recipients resided within the Edgewood district but were misrepresenting their address so they could attend public school in another school district prior to receiving their Horizon scholarship.
Positive change breeds more positive change.
The Horizon program is now proving to be a positive element in private housing expansion within the Edgewood district boundaries. The CEO Foundation has been contacted by housing developers who wish to understand how the program works in order to ensure the residents of any new housing that they build within the district would be eligible for participation in the program. A new apartment complex that opened in1999 is promoting the scholarship program as a benefit to potential residents. The independent evaluation by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. of Princeton, New Jersey of the Horizon program was not conducted by the CEO program. In order to assure independence of effort and validity of results, the researchers accepted total responsibility of all aspects of the examination including its funding.