Abstract
The very small literature explaining (i) how citizens have voted in two California voucher referenda, (ii) how legislators have voted on voucher bills in the State of Florida and the US Congress, and (iii) the variation across states in charter school provisions is summarized. New empirical evidence documenting the cross-state variation in the success of voucher referenda and voucher bills is examined. Voucher bill characteristics and state characteristics play important roles. Voucher bills have been passed only in the more conservative Republican states, and almost all of the successful voucher programs have been targeted at large, struggling school districts.
Christine Piette was a tremendous help in finding and documenting roll call votes in legislatures and referenda on educational choice. I have benefitted from comments by Bill Bomberger, David Brasington, David Denslow, David Figlio, David Sappington, and Paul Sotkiewicz.
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Kenny, L.W. (2005). The public choice of educational choice. In: Shughart, W.F., Tollison, R.D. (eds) Policy Challenges and Political Responses. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-28038-3_11
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