Missouri Needs More Market Forces in Education

In a recent Show-Me Institute paper, Why Markets Matter in Education, Dr. Michael McShane effectively summarizes the importance of free market forces in the historically monopolized education sector. He states,

Markets offer three mechanisms that facilitate school choice. First, they allow for a level of diversity in school offerings that traditional, centrally managed school systems are not able to. Second, they encourage competition between providers, improving the quality of school options for students and families. Third, markets are incredible information gathering institutions, and a more market-driven system can help bring attention to better educational practices and ways to meet family needs that can then be copied by other schools.

When I think about policies that increase the diversity of options, encourage competition, and spur innovation, open enrollment and education savings account (ESA) programs come to mind.

Open enrollment allows students to attend any public school district. In Missouri, a voluntary open enrollment policy has been discussed but never implemented. Open enrollment legislation has passed through the House for four consecutive years but has not had enough momentum to push through the Senate. Open enrollment empowers parents to choose the district and school that best suits their children and strengthens school districts by forcing them to compete for students. Through the addition of open enrollment, competition and increased feedback could spur needed innovation and growth, while at the same time matching families with districts that best suit their needs.

While Senate Bill (SB) 727 expanded Missouri's ESA program (MOScholars), there are issues with financing. MOScholars is still not publicly funded, as robust ESA programs in other states are. Due to this, many families are left out of the program. A stronger ESA program would give more parents the ability to vote with their feet to support schools with beneficial education practices.

Education cannot be forgotten-our state is experiencing chronic absenteeism and lower academic scores. On the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP), Missouri students have failed to bounce back from the pandemic drop. In English/language arts (ELA), no grade-level cohort has matched or surpassed its pre-pandemic levels. Almost all ELA scores today are actually lower than they were in the first post-COVID year (2020-2021), with 5th graders being the only exception. Sixth graders have fared the worst of all grade levels-in 2018-2019, 46 percent scored proficient or advanced in ELA. In 2021-2022, that number dropped to 43 percent, and by 2023-2024, it sunk to 38 percent.

Hopefully, SB 727 will not be the end of the road for needed change. Markets do matter in education, and school choice policies can greatly benefit our state.