Parental Choice of Schools

Abstract

The first part of this article surveys discursive and research literature pertaining to parental choice of schools. Those in favor rely on parents' basic right to determine the kind of education they desire for their children. Allowing parents the choice of schools is said to encourage institutional competition and, as a result, improve the educational quality of schools. Opponents of this approach claim that in reality parental choice is limited to the choosing of an educational system and not of a particular school. It has also been argued that in the absence of objective information about schools, parents' choices tend to be biased by unfounded school reputations. In the second part of the article a survey conducted among 458 parents of sixth, eighth and ninth graders attending Jerusalem schools is presented. Respondents ranked a series of possible factors according to which they would choose a school for their child if they had a choice. The highest priorities were given to the quality of teaching and curricula, educational programs and school management. Secondary status was accorded to more extrinsic factors such as school reputation, social status of the school's population, etc. Similar patterns of preference were found among different subgroups of parents. Conditions under which parents' choices might in fact be guided by such intrinsic school factors as were found in the present inquiry are discussed.