School Choice, Competition vs. Spending

In this episode of The ThoughtStretchers Podcast, host Drew Perkins engages in a nuanced dialogue with Patrick Graff, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, about the impact of school choice on public education. Graff presents findings from a study analyzing Florida’s 15-year private school choice program, which revealed that public school students in high-competition areas outperformed their peers in low-competition areas by 120 days in reading and math gains. He argues this competition effect was 11 times more cost-effective than increasing school spending, citing a meta-analysis showing only five extra days of learning per $1,000 spent. The conversation explores the mechanisms behind this effect—such as improved student-teacher ratios, reduced disciplinary incidents, and better student-teacher fit—while acknowledging concerns about accountability, rural school impacts, and the broader role of schools as community anchors. Graff emphasizes the importance of minimum academic quality through nationally norm-referenced assessments and discusses the potential of the new federal Education Freedom Tax Credit to expand educational opportunity without politicizing funding. The episode concludes with a call for moving beyond polarization and fostering inclusive, evidence-based dialogue around education reform.