Across the country, policymakers have long assumed that boosting K-12 funding is the surest path to better student outcomes. Yet decades of rising spending have proven otherwise. The missing ingredient is not money — it’s meaningful choice.
Florida provides one of the clearest examples. In <a href="https://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/k-12-scholarship-programs/ftc/">2001</a>, the state launched a modest tax-credit scholarship program to help low-income students access alternative educational options. Roughly 15,000 students participated in the program’s first year. Today, Florida’s school choice ecosystem serves <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/state/florida/">over 500,000 students</a> across multiple programs, giving families options tailored to their children’s needs.
Critics long warned that policies empowering parents with educational options for their children harm public schools and their students. The data, however, tell a different story — the positive effects of school choice extend beyond participating students.
Florida public school students exposed to greater levels of school choice competition have experienced learning gains equivalent to as much as <a href="https://www.federationforchildren.org/florida-school-choice-cost-effectiveness-study/">120 additional days</a> of instruction in reading — nearly two-thirds of a school year. These effects are especially strong for low-income students, who often have little to no alternative to their residentially assigned district public school, regardless of whether it fails to educate children in the basics or to keep them physically safe.
A substantial body of <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/123-of-School-Choice.pdf">research</a> across multiple states — including Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina — shows that as public schools face increased competition, students who remain in traditional public schools achieve higher test scores and stronger outcomes.
It is no coincidence that students do better when school choice exists. When families have options, schools must compete. The market force of competition is a powerful incentive that can drive innovation, sharpen priorities, and shift the focus from bureaucratic compliance to providing improved academic instruction. It also encourages schools to be more responsive to parents and more intentional in how they use resources.
For years, however, the default answer in education debates has been simple: spend more money. Calls to “fully fund” public schools are constant, yet rarely defined — and even less often tied to accountability for results. What matters is not how much is spent, but whether those dollars translate into improved student learning.
Despite steady increases in per-student spending nationwide, academic outcomes have persistently been low for years. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called the “Nation’s Report Card,” <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/">reading scores</a> and <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/mathematics/2024/g4_8/?grade=4">math scores</a> remained relatively flat, then declined sharply following the pandemic and prolonged school closures.
The most recent results reveal that <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/?grade=4">69% of fourth-grade students</a> and <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/?grade=8">70% of eighth-grade students</a> are not proficient in reading, while <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/mathematics/2024/g4_8/">61% of fourth-grade students</a> and <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/mathematics/2024/g4_8/">72% of eighth-grade students</a> aren’t proficient in math. With an additional <a href="https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-200-billion-question-how-much-of-federal-covid-19-relief-funding-for-schools-will-go-to-covid-19-relief/">$200 billion</a> poured into K-12 public education during the pandemic, these figures underscore that greater funding does not equate to increased student learning.
Simply put, more money has not produced better outcomes. Instead, what has made a measurable difference is competition.
A recent <a href="https://www.federationforchildren.org/florida-school-choice-cost-effectiveness-study/">analysis</a> by Patrick Graff finds that Florida’s school choice programs are more than 11 times as cost-effective at improving public school student achievement compared with equivalent increases in K–12 spending. Achieving similar gains through funding alone would have required more than $1,400 in additional spending per student annually, totaling roughly <a href="https://www.federationforchildren.org/florida-school-choice-cost-effectiveness-study/">$31.8 billion</a> over 15 years.
Nationwide, school choice spending accounts for an incredibly small share of state funding. For example, in 2022, school choice programs accounted for just <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/the-fiscal-effects-of-school-choice/">0.3%</a> of total state spending. In Arizona, critics have fear-mongered that the state’s school choice program with universal eligibility would bankrupt the state. The claim is far from factual as the <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/the-fiscal-effects-of-school-choice/">Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account</a> program funding in 2022 was “only 0.9% of the state budget,” and the state experienced a <a href="https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/arizonas-universal-esa-program-a-history-of-surplus-savings-media-misinformation/">$2 billion surplus</a>. The end result of school choice is enormous savings to the state.
These are not isolated cases, but are becoming a consistent pattern emerging across the country. The improved outcomes driven by school choice are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
A 2025 <a href="https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/wordpressua.uark.edu/dist/9/544/files/2025/10/2024-25arkansaseducationfreedomaccountsprogramannualreport.pdf">study</a> of Arkansas’ Education Freedom Accounts finds that school choice is delivering strong academic performance, high family satisfaction, and sustained participation, signaling real benefits for students.
In Washington, D.C., students who used a scholarship through the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program were <a href="https://www.congress.gov/event/112th-congress/house-event/LC2715/text?utm_source=chatgpt.com">21 percentage points</a> more likely to graduate from high school than their peers who did not receive one.
Similarly, in Milwaukee — home to the country’s longest-running modern private school scholarship program — longitudinal research shows that students participating in a school choice program are <a href="https://scdp.uark.edu/milwaukee-parental-choice-program-evaluation/">more likely</a> to graduate from high school and attend college than comparable public school students.
A study by the Urban Institute on the Educational Choice Scholarship program found that students in Ohio using private school scholarships were significantly more likely to <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/effects-ohios-edchoice-voucher-program-college-enrollment-and-graduation">attend and complete college</a>, including higher rates of bachelor’s degree attainment.
Together, these findings point to lasting benefits that extend beyond K–12.
As the traditional system continues to fall short, the evidence points to a clear reality: funding levels alone do not account for differences in student performance. What does make a difference is access to educational options. School choice introduces the kind of competitive pressure that has long driven improvement in other sectors — and education is no exception. As more families recognize these benefits, demand grows further.
If the goal is to raise student achievement — particularly for the most vulnerable — expanding access to educational options warrants adoption. It delivers significant advantages for students who pursue alternatives and for those who remain in traditional public schools.
Education policy should be guided by what works. For decades, the prevailing assumption has been that increased spending will reliably produce better results. The data tells a different story. School choice, by contrast, has demonstrated consistent, measurable effects — not only on academic performance but also on long-term outcomes such as high school graduation, college enrollment, and degree attainment.
The question is no longer if school choice works — it’s whether policymakers elected by the taxpayers, but beholden to the teachers unions, are willing to act on the evidence.
* * * 
Dr. Keri D. Ingraham is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, Director of the American Center for Transforming Education, and a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum.

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Parents Are Gaining More Control In Education And The Results Are Hard To Ignore