9320649 Olsen The topic of school choice has figured prominently in recent public policy debates on education reform. These debates have been long on rhetoric and short on systematic empirical studies. In this dissertation, the investigator will develop and empirically test a model that allows inferences into the following questions about school choice: (1) Which children receive a higher quality education, and which receive a lower quality education under various voucher schemes? (2) Does there exist a voucher scheme, or class of voucher schemes, which results in all children receiving a higher quality education than they current receive? (3) What role do inter-neighborhood housing price variations and transportation costs play in constraining households moving their children from their current schools to higher quality schools? (4) Which types of schools will experience an increase in demand and which types a decrease as a result of the voucher scheme? This grant will permit the investigator to collect data from a random sample of 600 households living in a metropolitan area and having at least one child in elementary school. Data to be collected under this project do not currently exist in one data set or in a form which allows the investigator to use data from various sources. The survey data will permit the investigator to conduct realistic simulations about the impacts of different school choice schemes.
