Is School Choice a “Trojan Horse?” The Effects of School Choice Laws on Homeschool Prevalence

Abstract

ABSTRACTSchool choice programs such as vouchers and charter schools expand lower cost schooling options for families. We examine how these expansions affect the prevalence of homeschooling. School choice programs may reduce homeschooling if parents that otherwise would have homeschooled their children instead use a school choice program. Homeschooling may increase if school choice programs act as a “Trojan Horse” by expanding government control in otherwise independent schools, pushing some families away from those options. We empirically examine the legitimacy of such claims by looking at the effects of public and private school choice programs on the market share of homeschooling. We use difference-in-differences to estimate whether voucher programs and charter schools influence homeschooling.