As Table 1 shows, American students' math and science scores on international tests consistently fall behind those of students in many other countries. Further evidence of K-12 failure is that 67 percent of those receiving remedial education in the workplace in 1994 were high school graduates. These disappointing outcomes have occurred despite the fact that real public spending per pupil has more than quadrupled since 1950. It is clear that improvement in the performance of the K-12 education system is needed. There are good reasons to believe that increased competition may mitigate public education's shortcomings.
Some private efforts indicate the potential for success.
For example, many Catholic schools improve student performance and cost less than public schools, even after accounting for the different types of students attending these schools. However, because only 10 percent of children attend private schools, this success is limited to children whose parents can afford the choice of private schooling. Despite recent moves towards competitive provision of most other publicly-provided services, privatization of public school functions has been slow. But some reform options already in use include charter schools which are publicly funded, but subject to less regulation than public schools, and privately-managed public schools, which try to make a profit while educating students with equivalent funds. Several cities are also experimenting with vouchers to allow school choice.