If the U.S. still wants to pursue the idea of school vouchers, it should look to Sweden for answers, writes Odd Eiken, executive vice president of Kunskapsskolan Education, the largest private school provider in Sweden. The former state secretary of schools who helped develop the Swedish voucher system argues that this model is both simple and provides accountability for schools involved.

 

Inspired by the philosophy of conservative economist Milton Friedman, Sweden in 1993 developed a system “where funding follows the student regardless of their parents’ income.” The voucher system allows every family to choose the right school for a child, “and every student brings with him the same amount of per pupil funding as the cost of the public school in his or her home district,” states Eiken.

 

Sweden also requires schools that accept vouchers to accept national education standards and allow for their performance to be monitored. Additionally, schools cannot charge students fees beyond the voucher.

 

The system has proven to be successful, Eiken argues, pointing out that Sweden’s private sector share of students has increased from 1% to 10-15%.

 

“Vouchers are not the sole fix for education—there is no such single reform,” he concludes. “But with real competition, independent schools are still generally performing better academically than public schools, even if the differences probably will decrease as their share increases and failing schools disappear. More important perhaps, is that all schools—public and private—perform better in areas where alternatives are plentiful.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Sweden’s School Voucher System is a Model for America (by Odd Eiken, Daily Caller)

Advocates Protest Elimination of DC’s Voucher System (by Amira Elmallah, AllGov)