Principled Politics, Regulatory Reluctance: Conditions Moderating Private School Choice Program Participation

ABSTRACT Private school leaders consider the potential benefits of private school choice program participation against costs associated with program regulations. Rational Choice Theory suggests leaders in states with conditions related to greater likelihood of program passage may be less willing to accept such regulations. To test this theory, we merge experimental data from a national study of private school choice program regulations with state-level data on political partisanship and union strength. We find limited evidence of heterogeneity by partisanship. We find leaders in states with weaker teachers’ unions are more reluctant to accept standardized testing requirements and copay prohibition.