In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the constitutionality of public funding for private religious schools, the debate over private school vouchers has intensified. At the same time, the federal No Child Left Behind Act has put new emphasis on choice within the public school system. The debate no longer centers around whether we should have more choice in education, but whether choice should occur within public schools or extend to private schools. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
This volume is a compilation of articles, papers, and discussions on public school choice and private school vouchers. Contributors include Christopher Edley of Harvard Law School; former New York Times education editor Edward B. Fiske; Richard Just of the American Prospect; Helen F. Ladd of Duke University; Gordon MacInnes of the New Jersey Department of Education; Eliot Mincberg of People for the American Way; Sean Reardon of Pennsylvania State University; Brent Staples of the New York Times; Adam Urbanski of the American Federation of Teachers; Amy Stuart Wells of Columbia; John Yun of Harvard; and, from The Century Foundation, Thad Hall, Richard D. Kahlenberg, Richard C. Leone, Ruy Teixeira, and Bernard Wasow.