As policy makers call for the dramatic expansion of school choice and voucher programs across the U.S., it becomes all the more important for educators and advocates to consider lessons learned in countries--such as the Netherlands, New Zealand, and England--that have already gone down this path. Efforts to promote choice and school…

Many arguments in favour of school voucher programs are based upon libertarian free agency principles. Viewed at the organizational level, allowing persons to exercise choice in education would seem to offer incentives for all educational organizations within that framework to improve overall product quality and thus more effectively obtain the…

In the international discussion about expanding parental choice and the private delivery of education, the Dutch arrangement is regarded quite often as a "unique" system. This paper discusses the features of the Dutch arrangement as a variation of comparable schemes within the European Union, whereby parents can make a real choice among…

Private/public school choice has existed in the Netherlands since 1900. The national government subjects public, Protestant, and Catholic school sectors to equal examination, salary, and capital investment standards. Factors influencing the existence of religious schools in an increasingly irreligious society include community church values;…

A system of completely equal treatment of state and religious denominational elementary schools has existed in the Netherlands since 1920 and is firmly rooted in previous centuries of Dutch history. Development of this "pillarized" educational system is traced and discussed in relation to situations in South Africa and in countries with…

The role of parent choice in publicly funded education in six selected nations is examined. Focusing upon education in developed Western democracies, this study is intended to be instructive to U.S. education as it examines the interplay between state-mandated universal education and parents' right of choice. Twenty-five national education systems…

Private education and comparisons between private and public education at the collegiate and elementary/secondary levels are discussed in 11 articles. Attention is directed to relationships between private choice and public policy as they affect the quality, finance, governance, mission, and division of labor in a cross-national, interdisciplinary…

This essay offers a preliminary examination of public support for private elementary and secondary education as it is incorporated into the systems of Denmark, Australia, and Holland. Its purpose is to stimulate American thinking about family choice systems. After a brief introduction on the ad hoc quality differentials in American public…