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When listed as one option, public schools lose

by Charlie Butts

OneNewsNow.com

June 19, 2008

U.S. states are being surveyed one at a time by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice in order to determine the feelings of residents on school choice.

Spokesman Paul Diperna says Idaho is the latest of four states that have been checked thus far. "The broad takeaway is that Idaho parents ... want more [alternative school] choices...," he says. "... [W]e've seen overwhelming support for private schools, charter schools, home schooling, and even virtual schools to some extent," Diperna reports.

According to a press release, 39 percent of Idahoans would prefer sending their child to a private school; 25 percent, a charter school; and 21 percent, home schooling. If full choices were available, Diperna claims that only 12 percent of Idaho parents would choose the public school system. In other states, he says, that number fluctuates.

"... [I]t's been around 19 percent for example in Illinois, 15 percent in Tennessee, and 11 percent in Nevada ...," Diperna details.

Those percentages, notes Diperna, come from parents who mostly send their children to public schools either due to a lack of schooling alternatives or the cost.