(July 2010) The Policy Foundation will host a July 30 event honoring the late Dr. Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the 1976 Nobel Laureate in Economics and a proponent of educational choice. His wife, Rose D. Friedman (1910-2009) was also an economist. The couple co-authored several books, including a 1980 best-seller, Free To Choose that served as the basis for a 10-part series on public television (PBS).
The Indianapolis-based Foundation for Educational Choice continues to advance Milton and Rose Friedman’s vision of school choice for all students. The Foundation, in a statement (“Why School Choice?”) explains that Friedman, in 1955, foresaw the consequences of monopoly in the delivery of educational services, and “encouraged a return to liberty through the introduction of school choice. He argued it would be much better and more equitable if the government would “give each child, through his parents, a specified sum [voucher] to be used solely in paying for his general education.”
“The benefits of this idea, which has come to be known as school choice, are numerous,” according to the Foundation. “Studies show that school choice leads to better test scores for all students and higher graduation rates. They show that parents are more satisfied and involved with their child’s school, and that school choice saves taxpayers millions of dollars. And they show that public schools respond positively to competition.”
The Foundation notes a family’s freedom to choose “lies at the heart of school choice.” The goal of education “is to ensure learning and guarantee a free society and stable democracy. These goals are better met when all parents are free to choose the school that works best for their child. So, why school choice? In a word, liberty.”
School choice programs exist in 15 states but not in Arkansas, according to the Foundation. (http://www.edchoice.org/schoolchoice/ShowProgram.do)
To make a reservation for the July 30 event please contact the Policy Foundation at (501) 537-0825.
