Tommy Schultz, national communications director for the Federation for Children, says WILL’s study is different from others because it shows how school choice affects the neediest children.
“There are many studies and testimonials that illustrate the positive impact of school choice, but this study is unique in its specific breakdown of how this is impacting children from low-income families and closing the achievement gap,” Schultz said.
Will Flanders, WILL’s research director and the study’s author, says the study provided data not previously available.
“Until this year in Wisconsin, we had no data on race and socioeconomic status, but part of the additional reporting requirements for schools last year included these data,” Flanders said. “We loaded all these data into an econometric regression model and isolated the effect of the school itself, so we controlled for those aspects.”