It’s back-to-school season, which unfortunately means it’s time for the vast majority of public school teachers to use their own salaries to stock and supply their classrooms. And because private and charter schools compete with traditional public schools for students, teachers may be inclined to believe that school choice programs divert education dollars away from their classrooms. That could explain why teachers are less likely to support school choice than the general public. But that’s only half of the story. Economic theory and scientific evidence suggest that school choice actually leads to higher salaries for public school teachers.

Educators currently have limited diversity of options for teaching jobs. Because the government currently holds around 90 percent of the K-12 market share, educators do not have much choice regarding where they work. Teachers essentially have to accept the package of benefits and the work environment offered by the traditional public school system — and teachers that don’t like it are pretty much out of luck.