The special needs students will be left behind argument. This argument directly flies in the face of current reality. In Vermont s tuitioning towns, special needs students are allowed to choose and their needs are met in private schools as well as in public ones. And, even in nontuitioning towns, students with special needs can be sent, at public expense, to private schools that cater to the students very specific challenges. Private schools regularly administer entrance tests to screen out undesirable students but public schools have to take everybody.
Private schools have a bad record at integration.
Once again, this argument flies in the face of reality. Perhaps exclusive prep schools administer entrance tests, but the vast majority of private schools do not. Those that participate in choice programs are usually precluded from doing so by the choice laws. And, private schools in recent years have a much better record at racial integration and harmony than public ones. According to a study by University of Houston researcher Jay Greene, US Department of Education statistics show that private school classrooms are more racially integrated and do a better job at fostering racial tolerance than public school ones.