Synopsis

The declining quality of American public schools has frustrated parents, perplexed the educational establishment and given politicians endless opportunities to proclaim their support for reform. Increasing numbers of students have found relief in private schools and homeschooling, but for most families, flight from the public schools in not a viable option.

Advocates of “school choice” point out that attempts to fix the public (government) schools have been piecemeal at best. In contrast, publicly funded tuition vouchers, they argue, would reform American schooling at the system-wide level and thereby dramatically and continuously improve K-12 education. But would it?

According to John Merrifield, author of School Choices: True and False, school choice advocates have—or had—the right idea. A competitive education industry—fostered by vouchers—would greatly improve the quality of education. However, argues Merrifield, most school-choice proposals are too small and too limited in scope to fulfill their promise. They simply do not offer enough choice. Rather than settle for “dumbed-down” versions of school choice, Merrifield invites readers to take the notion of choice in education seriously. Anything less, he argues, will shortchange students and make true reform less likely.

School Choices calls for major changes in research practices, debating tactics, and political strategy. It describes a school-reform proposal that would utilize market forces, especially genuine competition, to focus on the fate of children rather than the public school system, which is nothing more than a governing and funding process. It also offers a detailed discussion of how such a policy would be implemented.

About the Author

John Merrifield is an associate professor of economics at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and a Senior Research Associate at the Education Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.

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