Conservatives routinely (and correctly) chide liberals for misunderstanding the law of unintended consequences. One positive policy will lead to unanticipated negatives outcomes. For instance, it made sense to focus welfare on single mothers, since they’re the neediest. But that accidentally created an economic incentive for people not to get married.
Here’s a conservative social policy with an unintended consequence. For years, conservatives, and more recently liberals, have proposed charter schools to shake up and improve the public schools. The Wall Street Journal reports that one consequence is that Catholic, or parochial, schools are suffering.

It’s not the only reason parochial schools are struggling. The church’s financial crises (in part stemming from child abuse lawsuits) and decline of the Catholic populations in certain areas are key factors too. But the Journal piece about the schools in Scranton, Pennsyvania would indicate that one reason for Catholic school success in the past had been a the lack of confidence in public schools. So question for conservative supporters of charter schools: if the result of this policy is better public schools but decimated parochial schools, would that be a net plus?