Giuliani joins school-choice bandwagon

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Oct 30, 1995 | by Raymond J. Keating

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has infuriated New York's public-education establishment. In a speech Aug. 14, the mayor attacked the city's bloated education bureaucracy and its dismal results, and warned that without doing something dramatic, the system would "collapse." He has continued his attacks on bureaucracy since then and calls for "radical reform."

In effect, New York City's public schools already have collapsed. From per-student costs in excess of $8,000, to dismal test scores and high dropout rates, to reports of asbestos-ridden school buildings, the failures of public schools are manifest. Only inertia and special-interest politics seem to keep the system going. These schools closely resemble old socialist factories of the Soviet Union -- everybody works apparently, but they produce little of value.

Similar problems plague the public schools in the nation's other socialistlike basket case -- Washington. However, the taxpayer costs for a failure are even higher in the District of Columbia, with average per-pupil expenditures topping $9,400 -- outpacing every state in the nation.

Giuliani wants New York City schools to take some lessons from the city's parochial schools, particularly noting the parochial schools' practically nonexistent central bureaucracy versus the city's "large numbers of useless bureaucrats." The mayor also wants to shift control over education from the Board of Education to the mayor's office. Meanwhile, House Speaker Newt Gingrich asked U.S. Rep. Steve Gunderson, a Wisconsin Republican, to find ways to improve education in Washington. In early August, the initial proposals from Gunderson were distributed at a town meeting. The plan included 21 reform measures. Unfortunately, 20 of these amount to the standard list one expects from such an endeavor -- more government programs, public-private partnerships, advisory panels, et al.

The lone glimmer of hope in this package was the following proposal: "A scholarship fund for District families with limited income to enhance their educational choices." If this vague bureaucratese translates into means-tested vouchers for students to be used at any public or private school, then real reform may be budding in our nation's capital.

In New York, Giuliani says he does not favor either privatizing the city public-school system or vouchers, but declares that this is what will come about if the public-school system doesn't get its act together. ln reality, though, the only hope of salvaging anything from the publicschool systems in New York City and Washington is to inject competition into the education system by way of privatization and vouchers. This is the "radical reform" that we need in primary and secondary education across the United States.

Many argue against school choice because, they assert, public schools will be unable to compete or survive in such a system. They may be correct and, if so, good riddance! Our concerns should not lie with "saving public schools," but with providing quality education.

For this to happen, centralized bureaucracies must give way to education entrepreneurs. Far too many quality teachers remain trapped in the public-education system today, sty-mied by government bureaucrats and education unions. School choice would give these and other entrepreneurs the opportunity to start up their own schools -- to create and innovate. Right now, only upper-income families can afford both burdensome school taxes and private tuition. This system effectively strangles private-sector education. Vouchers would allow a market to grow in education.

Both Giuliani and Republicans in Congress need to build on their own rhetoric and actually implement radical education reform. As long as government controls education, any management improvements envisioned by Giuliani or congressional Republicans will be short lived, if they materialize at all. Mayoral offices, Congress and other governmental entities possess no incentives to control costs or improve services. Only markets guarantee the best product at the best price, and education is no different.

The interests of our children must be placed ahead of special interests, in particular ahead of the education unions seeking to protect a failed government monopoly. Gingrich's column in the Sept. 25 Washington Times spoke glowingly of a fledgling private voucher program in the District. This is encouraging, but more needs to be done. Radical reform means competition through full-scale school choice. Only entrepreneurs can revitalize education in New York City, Washington and across the rest of America.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist with the Small Business Survival Committee and coauthor of D.C. By the Numbers: A State of Failure.