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 schooling, a discussion ensues of the ambiguous definitions of "private" and "public," as these terms are alternately used to refer to ownership and use. The third section addresses the implicit values and the historical context behind the American policy of denying aid to religiously affiliated private schools. The following three sections discuss the history and structure of education systems in Denmark, Australia, and Holland, respectively. Denmark has a national system of public elementary schools, coupled with the right of minorities to establish "free" schools at public expense. Australia provides comprehensive government aid to private religious schools, primarily because of pressure from a large Catholic constituency; as a result, the quality of Catholic education has steadily improved. In Holland, two thirds of the children attend private religious schools fully supported by the government. The paper concludes by recommending a carefully deliberated shift to a choice system that recognizes the centrality of religious values to the educational process and that provides alternatives for families with different interests and values. (TE)