That privately run schools outperform government-run schools is supported by economic theory as well as anecdotal data. The Milton & Rose Friedman Foundation add to the empirical research on the subject with their latest publication, Monopoly Versus Markets.

The study uses the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, a product of the U.S. Department of Education, to compare the performance of students in both private and public schools.

Greg Forster, senior fellow at the Foundation and author of the report, said the data “show students in private schools made better academic gains than students in private schools, even after controlling for race, income, parental education and family composition.”

His report “confirms similar findings from a large body of previous research, including studies using optimal ‘random assignment’ methods.”

The study was not yet public at the time of this writing, but you can find the report on the Friedman Foundation website.