Articles

Sixty years ago the late Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman published a radical idea: just because we fund schools through government doesn’t mean politicians know how to run schools or what education is best for other people’s children.

Sixty years ago the late Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman published a radical idea: just because we fund schools through government doesn’t mean politicians know how to run schools or what education is best for other people’s children.

Seven years ago, when Katie Swingle’s son was only 18 months old, a doctor reported that her boy’s autism would probably prevent him from ever being able to speak. Today, Katie’s son is not only communicating orally, but he’s also writing—in cursive! And Katie says the Florida Legislature is partly to thank.

Nevada’s new school choice program is getting national attention because it’s the first in the nation to provide universal school choice. However, that’s not all that’s new about it. It’s also an Education Savings Account (ESA) program, which is the new frontier in school choice programs.

As enthusiasm for school choice rises across the political spectrum, opponents remain determined and willing to spend lots of money, some of it from the public well, to reverse, cap, or smother choice. Meanwhile, the vast majority of school-age children most in need of better education remain stuck in schools based on ZIP code, rather than on the preferences of students or parents.

The vast majority of Oklahomans agree that teachers have earned a significant pay raise. But hiking taxes to fund raises is a risky and damaging proposition. Fortunately, my colleagues have identified hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings in state spending that would fund those raises, with no tax increase at all.

School choice increases integration, and that’s good for everyone.

Oklahoma voters and parents “emphatically support school choice expansion.” That’s the assessment of respected public-opinion researcher Pat McFerron, president of Cole Hargrave Snodgrass and Associates, after reviewing the results of the firm’s latest survey.

“I support school choice,” some education policymakers say, “but we need to make sure parents choose good schools!” In order for parents to choose good schools, of course, they need good information. Not information from government bureaucracies—which have a long track record of measuring the wrong things and deceiving parents—but from emerging resources such as Great Schools, Global Report Card, School Grades, and more. Better information, not tighter regulation, is the best way to let parents improve school quality.