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This paper examines the satisfaction levels of parents who have participated in Children First: School Choice Trust, a program that gives grants to lower income Ontario families so that their children can receive private (independent) elementary school education. It compares the satisfaction levels of these families with those of the families who applied for but did not receive a grant from Children First. One of the unique features of Children First: School Choice Trust is that, because it is based on a random assignment of grants to children, it provides the kind of data that is so rarely available to education researchers. In 2004, and for the first time in Canada, a group of economically disadvantaged Ontario families who shared a desire to send a child to an independent (or private) school of their choosing entered a lottery. Two years later, researchers followed up with Children First grant recipients from that cohort and a random selection of 2004 non-recipients. The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether parents who applied for a Children First grant believed that their children benefited from having received one. This study analyzes the survey responses of Children First grant recipients to determine whether lower income parents who applied for a Children First grant were more or less satisfied with their children's education at a private school than they likely would have been if their children had attended public school. The study then compares the answers of families whose children attended private school, with or without a grant, to see if there are differences between the responses of these two groups of families. This study does not attempt to comment on the effectiveness of private or public schooling in general, and it does not assume homogeneity among private or public schools. The introduction provides an overview of the Children First: School Choice Trust program. It explains the purpose of this study and its limitations, and identifies the groups of student families that are compared in the study: Children First families, non-recipient families whose children attended private schools, and non-recipient families whose children attended public schools. The study is divided into three sections: academic environment, social environment, and student improvement. In the first section, academic environment, parents were asked to grade their children's school, using the "A" to "F" scale, on seven indicators: academic quality, quality of teacher attention, parents' interaction with teachers and administrators, discipline, curriculum's reflection of parents' values, parental involvement at school, and overall school experience. For each indicator, Children First families gave their schools a higher rating than non-recipients whose children attended public schools. There was no statistical difference between the scores of families who attended private schools with or without a Children First grant. There were statistically significant differences between the scores of non-recipients at private schools and nonrecipients at public schools.… [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]