Pros

According to advocates:

• School choice programs have the potential to motivate positive change in the public education system by introducing competition, thus forcing public schools to increase student achievement or risk closure.
  
  
• Depending on how school choice programs are designed, they can level the playing field by giving low-income and/or minority students access to a high-quality education otherwise unobtainable.
  
  
• School choice programs allow parents to choose where to send their children to school from a greater array of alternatives, even if they are outside of their assigned school district, thus allowing them to take a more active role in shaping their child's education.

• School choice programs that involve private institutions are an inappropriate use of public funds. Diverting resources away from public schools that still serve the vast majority of students will only decrease the overall quality of education in the country.
  
  
• School choice programs that involve private institutions and provide only a portion of the total cost of attending private schools, such as certain tax credits and tax deductions, primarily benefit affluent parents who can afford the additional costs. These programs essentially subsidize private education for wealthy families.
  
  
• School choice programs that force public schools to compete in the open marketplace reduce the importance of the civic and socializing missions of education that train students in citizenship and democratic principles. School is transformed into a commodity, and parents attempt to consume the best education product possible in the form of high-quality schools.