History of School
Choice
P R E S E N T E D B Y K AT I E B U E L L
FEBRUARY 5, 2014
Overview
Why School Choice? Why is it important?
History of School Choice
The School Choice Controversy
What do you think?
Why School Choice?
School choice allows parents to choose
any school that would be the right fit for
their child.
Types of School Choice
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Vouchers
Education Savings Account
Tax-Credit Scholarships
Individual Tax Credit/Deductions
School Options
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WATCH THIS VIDEO!
Private Schools
Charter
Homeschool
Online Learning
Photo courtesy of www.edchoice.org
Timeline
The Role of Government in Education
by Milton Friedman
19th
Colonial Era
Century
1925
1955
Pierce v. Society of Sisters
1923
Meyer v. State of Nebraska
first tax deduction for
education purposes
(Minnesota)
1947
Everson v. Board of Education
of Ewing Township
1971
Lemon v. Kurtzman
1968
Board of Education v. Allen
Timeline Continued
1st Dual Enrollment Program
(Minnesota)
Graduation Incentive Program
(Minnesota)
Aguilar v. Felton
1973
1985
Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist
1972
Modern voucher program launched
1983
Mueller v. Allen
Tax deduction
(Iowa)
1987
1986
Witter v. Washington Dept.
of Services for the Blind
1st
1988
statewide public
school choice
(Minnesota)
1st
1990
voucher program established
(Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
1991
Educational CHOICE Charitable Trust
Timeline Continued
2001
1993
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District
1st
1992
charter school
(Minnesota)
1997
Agostini v. Felton
1995
Cleveland Scholarship and
Tutoring Program
Educational tax credit
(Illinois)
Approved tax credits
for corporations
(FL & PA)
1999
2002
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
2 statewide voucher
programs enacted
(Florida)
2006
EDChoice
(Ohio)
2007
Parent Choice in Education Act
(Utah)
Controversy
OPPONENTS
SUPPORTERS
 Competition will improve student and school
performance
 Public (and a few private schools) would
compete for same funding
 Schools more motivated to improve
 Vouchers as “Life-Boats”
 Takes public funds away from schools
most in need
 Low-income families may not be able
to use vouchers
 Choice will be exercised by limited
number of parents

“under-chosen” school in a hard place
 Tax-funded vouchers for religious
schools violates 1st Amendment
FOR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, WATCH THIS VIDEO!
What do you think?
Do you agree or disagree with the concept of school choice?
 Is it effective?
 Will school choice improve students’ learning achievement?
 Will school choice improve the quality of schools?
Can you think of an alternative to school choice?
 Is there a better option?
 How do you think public dollars should be allocated?
References
A Chronology of School Choice in the U.S.
This scholarly article discussed the history of the school choice starting from the
Colonial Era and all the way to 2008. After finishing this lesson, I found an updated
article written by Kafer. I could not find the complete article, so I used the 2008 edition.
This article was helpful to learn the chronological order of school choice in the U.S.
This information can be found on the timeline slides.
Kafer, K. (2008). A Chronology of School Choice in the U.S. Independence Institute, 1-12.
http://www.commonsenseissues.com/assets/Uploads/marriage-achronologyofschoolchoice.pdf
References
We Want School Choice. And We Want It Now!
I found this video on YouTube. It is a presentation created by Senator Ted Cruz
about the importance of school choice. I chose this video because I found his
speech to be very inspirational. I also thought his video was a good start to the
beginning of this lesson, as it introduced the subject topic well.
Cruz, T. (2014). We Want School Choice. And We Want It Now!. Retrieved from:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=school%20choice%20good%20or%20bad&sm=3
References
Choosing or Losing? The School Choice Controversy
This was the first website I stumbled upon on my research about school choice. This
article was connected with a video PBS created called School: The History of
American Public Education. I found this article very interesting because I initially
realize the controversy between whether or not parents should have the option of
where their children went to school. I used this reference to show a comparison
between the supporters and the opponents of school choice.
PBS. (2001). Choosing or Losing? The School Choice Controversy. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/roots_in_history/choice.html
References
What is School Choice?
I used this website to get a better idea of the types of social choice and the possible schools
students can possibly attend. I also thought the graphic was a great example of how everyone
must work together and everyone must rely on one another in order to have our students to be
successful. This website is a non-profit website in support of school choice. The webpage I
looked about was entitled What is School Choice?
Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. (n.d.).What is School Choice?. Retrieved from: http://www.edchoice.org/School-Choice/What-isSchool-Choice