SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT Free to Choose

Wall Street Journal ^ | 6/9/05 | Milton Friedman

[Temple Owl]

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

Free to Choose

After 50 years, education vouchers are beginning to catch on.

BY MILTON FRIEDMAN

Thursday, June 9, 2005 12:01 a.m.

Little did I know when I published an article in 1955 on "The Role of Government in Education" that it would lead to my becoming an activist for a major reform in the organization of schooling, and indeed that my wife and I would be led to establish a foundation to promote parental choice. The original article was not a reaction to a perceived deficiency in schooling. The quality of schooling in the United States then was far better than it is now, and both my wife and I were satisfied with the public schools we had attended. My interest was in the philosophy of a free society. Education was the area that I happened to write on early. I then went on to consider other areas as well. The end result was "Capitalism and Freedom," published seven years later with the education article as one chapter.

With respect to education, I pointed out that government was playing three major roles: (1) legislating compulsory schooling, (2) financing schooling, (3) administering schools. I concluded that there was some justification for compulsory schooling and the financing of schooling, but "the actual administration of educational institutions by the government, the 'nationalization,' as it were, of the bulk of the 'education industry' is much more difficult to justify on [free market] or, so far as I can see, on any other grounds." Yet finance and administration "could readily be separated. Governments could require a minimum of schooling financed by giving the parents vouchers redeemable for a given sum per child per year to be spent on purely educational services. . . . Denationalizing schooling," I went on, "would widen the . . . .

[Temple Owl]

Milton Friedman has to be the most intelligent human being alive today. Go vouchers!

[RWR8189]

Friedman truly is a brilliant man.

Thanks for posting.

[Betaille]

"Free to Choose" is the (second) most influential book I have ever read.

[USAfearsnobody]

And the first?

[USAfearsnobody]

Oh, THAT book!

[Betaille]

lol, caught yourself quick there.

[Luke]

Hummmm... sounds good to me if vouchers can also go to home schooling.

[Temple Owl]

Hummmm... sounds good to me if vouchers can also go to home schooling.

Let's work at it.

[Temple Owl]

You should be interested in this. Try to read the whole thing. It's an excerpt so I could only post 300 words, but the best stuff did not make.

[Tribune7]

Read it in the WSJ. Bump

[sageb1]

"Hummmm... sounds good to me if vouchers can also go to home schooling."

"Let's work at it."

I read this thread late. Vouchers for homeschooling are not a good idea. Once you accept money from the government, you are beholden to the government. The whole point of homeschooling is to get as far away as possible from government control and indoctrination of one's kids.

[Temple Owl]

I'll let each mom and dad use their own judgment. If they want to use some of the Public School facilities--library, gym, pool et al, it's all right by me. After all they are paying for them.

[Coleus]

Nationwide, parochial and Catholic Schools are closing every day and you hardly hear anything from the bishops and pastors in regard to this issue nor has any state Catholic Conference come out with a voter guide including the school choice issue. The Church in NJ shunned pro-school choice candidate Bret Schundler twice in 4 years so the get what they deserve--more school closings.

[Temple Owl]

And if will be a long , hard battle as long as the deep-pocketed teachers' unions control the main stream press and many state legislatures. But we must continue the battle. We are winning.