Elizabeth Kepniss (973) 497-4187 kepnisel@rcan.org

For Release :  May 29, 2001

Harvard Study Finds Parents Highly Satisfied When They Choose Their Children’s Schools
Parents Say Fighting, Cheating, Stealing, Gangs, Racial Conflict, Guns Non-Issue at Private Schools

Ted Forstmann, Co-Founder of the Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF), a not-for-profit organization that provides scholarships to low-income families, and Kevin Moriarty, who heads up the fund’s Newark Program, said the results of a new study confirm that parental choice is a critical factor in assuring that every child in America receives a quality education. The report, An Evaluation of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, was conducted by Professor Paul E. Peterson and David Campbell of Harvard University.

Parents in Elizabeth, Jersey City and Newark want their children to learn in a safe, stable, and enriching environment. As this Harvard Study shows, when parents have the ability to choose the schools their children attend, good things happen. The children in our program are thriving, "said Mr. Moriarty. "This study shows that parents—not just in Elizabeth, Jersey City and Newark – but across the nation recognize that parental control over education is a critically important issue."

"The Harvard study confirms what we have known for a long time: when parents are in charge, education works," Mr. Forstmann said. "Our CSF parents have the ability to choose where and how their children are educated. According to this new research, they say that the quality of education is better; that their children are safer; and that teachers are more respectful."

The study revealed that:

l 70% of private-school parents, as compared with 20% of public-school parents, said they were very satisfied with the level of safety at their child’s school.
l Only 8% of private-school students said other students often disrupt their class, as compared with 57% of public-school students.
l 90% of private-school parents say their child’s teachers always show respect for them as parents, as compared with 62% of public-school parents.
l Private-school parents were far less likely to consider fighting, cheating, stealing, gangs, racial conflict, or guns as serous problems at their children’s schools.

The full report is available at www.ksg.harvard.edu/pepg

The Children’s Scholarship Fund’s Newark Program, that is administered by The Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children at the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, provides scholarships to 156 children at 36 private schools children in Elizabeth, 176 children at 34 private schools in Jersey City and 810 children at 84 private schools in Newark.

The Children’s Scholarship Fund was founded in 1998 by Mr. Forstmann and philanthropist John Walton to improve the lives of thousands of American school children, and to bring attention to the almost complete lack of choice parents have within government-run school systems.

CSF has provided nearly $170 million for more than 40,000 nationwide scholarships, giving American school children and their parents a real choice in determining their educational future. The parents of more than 1.25 million low-income children from across the country applied for these 40,000 slots. In May 2000, the organization offered scholarships to enough families to fill every available empty seat in New York City private schools.

Families who receive the four-year scholarships contribute an average $1,100 per child each year to supplement CSF’s partial scholarships. Through CSF, parents – who must meet financial criteria – are now able to locate and choose a school that fits the educational needs of their children.

For more information about The Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children, please go to www.rcan.org/icsf. For more information about CSF, please visit www.scholarshipfund.org.

 

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