Better Citizens at a Lower Cost: Comparing Scholarship Tax Credit High School Students to Public School Students

Printer-friendly version

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Creating good citizens has long stood as one of the primary aspirations of public schools in America. Public schools not only require a number of courses in American government and history, but also aim to instill attitudes conducive to a democratic form of government. We want our citizens to have more than a mere knowledge of American civics. We also hope that our citizens will embrace civic values, including political tolerance and volunteerism.

Pluralistic democracy involves contention between diverse groups. Political tolerance involves a basic acceptance of the right of those with opposing views to voice their opinions and participate in the political process. Tolerance underpins democratic systems of government and, thus, is a highly desirable civic value.

Likewise, a willingness to volunteer one’s time and effort has long been viewed as an admirable civic trait. Volunteerism has obvious advantages over government action in addressing societal needs in that it is decentralized, often more effective, and does not involve using the coercive power of the state.

Promoting good citizenship serves as a major justification for public schools. Critics of parental choice in schooling have raised the specter that private schools would fail to instill democratic values. This report examines whether or not that claim withstands scrutiny.

Social scientists have long studied political tolerance and volunteerism. In this study, we present the results of a survey of 1,350 Arizona high school students attending district schools. The surveyor also interviewed a group of students attending private schools with the aid of a tax credit scholarship. This is the first direct comparison between public school and tax credit students in Arizona.

The survey finds an alarming lack of political tolerance in Arizona high school students, as measured by standard items. Tax credit students show substantially higher levels of both political tolerance and volunteerism.

 Read Better Citizens at a Lower Cost here.