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(2012-10-23) By several measures, the US standard of living improved enormously in the 19th century, when far fewer people completed high school, much less college. International differences in economic freedom contribute more to differential growth than do international differences in years of school attendance or differences in per pupil financial support contribute to differential growth. Minimum wage laws, child labor laws, compulsory school attendance policies and policies which restrict parents' options for the use of the taxpayers' pre-college education subsidy to schools operated by State (government, generally) employees reduce parents' ability to allocate the human capital embodied in their children. Thus, this is no surprise:...
...Rigorous studies confirm that students in countries that for historical reasons have a larger share of students in private schools perform at higher levels on international assessments while spending less on primary and secondary education. Such evidence suggests that competition can spur school productivity. In addition, the achievement gap between socioeconomically disadvantaged and advantaged students is reduced in countries in which private schools receive more government funds.
