Multiple choice: How public school leaders in New Orleans's saturated market view private school competitors

Authors

  • Huriya Jabbar The University of Texas at Austin
  • Dongmei Li The University of Texas at Austin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2382

Keywords:

charter schools, private schools, voucher, competition, New Orleans

Abstract

School choice policies, such as charter schools and vouchers, are in part designed to induce competition between schools. While several studies have examined the impact of private school competition on public schools, few studies have explored school leaders’ perceptions of private school competitors. This study examines the extent to which public school leaders in New Orleans, which already has a robust public school choice system, perceived competition with private schools, and the characteristics that predicted competition between the two types of schools. We find that while over half of principals reported competing with private schools for students, there was a wide range of the number and percentage of possible competitors reported. Furthermore, the results suggest that school voucher policies did not play a major role in influencing why schools competed with private schools. In addition, public school leaders who did lose students to private schools through the voucher program reported that they often recouped those losses, when parents returned to public schools unsatisfied or facing additional unexpected costs.

 

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Author Biographies

Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas at Austin

Huriya Jabbar, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Educational Policy and Planning Program in the Department of Educational Administration in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research examines the social and political dimensions of school choice and other market-based reforms across elementary, secondary, and postsecondary contexts. 

Dongmei Li, The University of Texas at Austin

Dongmei M. Li is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Policy and Planning Program in the Department of Educational Administration in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research examines education access and equity issues in the US and China, educational accountability, reform, and their impacts.

 

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Published

2016-09-19

How to Cite

Jabbar, H., & Li, D. (2016). Multiple choice: How public school leaders in New Orleans’s saturated market view private school competitors. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24, 94. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2382

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Section

Articles