Exit and Entry: Why Parents in Utah Left Public Schools and Chose Private Schools

Abstract

This study explored the factors that influenced parental decisions to exit a public school and enroll their children in a private school. It also explored why parents chose the specific private school their child attends and the level of satisfaction they have with their private school choice. The key reasons for leaving public education were: (a) quality of the curriculum or the lack thereof, (b) religious values, (c) moral values, (d) quality of instruction, (e) class size, (f) school climate, and (g) disciplined environment. Parents listed the following as the most influential reasons to enter the private education sector: (a) quality of the curriculum or the lack thereof, (b) religious values, (c) moral values, (d) quality of instruction, (e) class size, (f) school climate, and (g) disciplined environment. It is the same rank order of factors that influenced parents to leave public education, with the exception that school climate and class size were reversed in order.