This document presents findings of a study that identified patterns of use among a broad array of open-enrollment options available to elementary and secondary students in Minnesota. During the period 1985-91, the Minnesota legislature passed several pieces of new legislation designed to: (1) increase the educational choices available to students,…

This document describes the numbers of Minnesota students who are actively selecting their schools, and the number of Minnesota school districts offering options from which families may select. The first section explains the different kinds of school choice offered to Minnesota students. The second section illustrates the change in Minnesotans'…

This paper describes a program that has evolved in District No. 4 in the East Harlem area of Manhattan (New York). There, a system of "choice" at the junior high school level is possible due in part to the latitude afforded local school districts under the current decentralized system of authority. The program permits students and…

This document offers a detailed description of the dynamics involved in the choice of an independent neighborhood school. These primarily urban schools are an expression of cultural power and identity among minority groups who wish to ensure access to opportunities for academic achievement for their children and also to control the content and…

This essay, written from the point of view of a social researcher with a direct personal involvement in the cases studied, discusses how public schools, as universally accessible moral communities, engage in patterns of systematic exclusion. Through three case studies of public secondary schools in which groups of students have been situated…

The potential consequences of increased public support for private schools are investigated in this paper. It begins with an examination of two social purposes of education: political socialization (or the acquisition of a common language, knowledge of one's government, knowledge of the role of the citizen, and tolerance for varying points of…

The universal education credit can ease the financial burdens placed on families seeking independent primary and secondary education for their children. This analysis explains how the universal education credit differs from other educational choice reforms, including vouchers and how it works with real families. The way in which state legislators…

This paper discusses the struggle of African Americans for more educational options (a battle also faced by other racial and ethnic groups). The debate is about who should have the primary power to determine where low-income, mostly African American students should attend school. The fundamental problem is that parents without the power to make…

This report presents a proposal to expand parental choice in Michigan education by amending the Michigan Constitution and establishing a Universal Tuition Tax Credit (UTTC). Section 1 reviews why parental choice is the most important systemic education reform and evaluates various ways to expand it. Section 2 examines Michigan's constitutional…

Controlled choice is a student assignment plan that divides a city into zones within which students may select a school to attend as long as balanced racial ratios are maintained. It is seen as an equitable way of deploying common community educational resources to guarantee student diversity and school improvement. (AF)

Argues that adult education in Scotland is increasingly subject to a marketplace model that treats people as individual consumers who make rational choices about education on the basis of quality and price. Claims that this model is flawed from the perspectives of learners, educational providers, and professionals and results in policies that…

Presents presidential candidates' views concerning the federal role in education. Issues discussed include childhood poverty, educational inequities, Head Start funding, educational vouchers for private and parochial schools, national standards and examinations, funding for bilingual education, and redress for unequal access to education. Governor…

On May 23, 2001, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had rejected a proposal to fund a pilot school voucher program that would have provided a token voucher of $1,500 to students in five schools nationwide. Less than three years later, President George W. Bush delivered a far different message to voucher supporters--a declaration of…

This book presents findings of a study that examined the process of choosing secondary schools in two inner London (England) boroughs. Data were obtained from interviews with 70 parents and a survey of 134 year-6 students. The primary focus was on which family member decides which school the child should attend. In nearly one-half of the families,…

Although the school-choice movement has spread quickly, little time has been taken to assess whether the claimed benefits of school choice have actually been realized. This policy brief summarizes empirical evidence to date and addresses the following questions: Who gains from school choice and who loses? Do innovative school organizations arise…