Education and capitalism : how overcoming our fear of markets and economics can improve America's schools

Unless popular myths about capitalism are challenged, school reform will stall well short of success.—From the introduction to Education and Capitalism ''This is a thoughtful, thorough examination of the virtues of capitalism and free markets as a way to organize elementary and secondary education in a democracy.''—Milton Friedman Senior research fellow, Hoover Institution Nobel Prize winner in economic sciences For parents, teachers, policymakers, taxpayers, and scholars who want better schools for children regardless of their race, social background, or parents' income, this book asserts that, if schools were ''privatized'' (moved from the public to the private sector), they could once again do a superior job providing kindergarten to twelfth-grade (K–12) education. Drawing on insights and findings from history, psychology, sociology, political science, and economics, the authors reveal * Why schools and past efforts at school reform have failed * Why capitalism can be trusted to produce safe and effective schools—and why economics is an appropriate tool for studying how schooling is delivered * What history tells us about the government's role in schooling—and why keeping most schooling in the hands of government does not help achieve equality and democracy * How guidelines for voucher programs that protect the poorest and most vulnerable members of society otherwise work as well as their proponents predict * Why conservatives and libertarians should support school voucher programsThe authors show that, unless popular myths about capitalism are challenged, school reform will stall well short of success. Without a broader understanding of how and why markets work, the small steps in the right direction taken at the end of the twentieth century risk being swept away at the start of the twenty-first. 51JG8B2D0HL._SS500_......Page 1 0817939717_xiii......Page 2 0817939717_xv......Page 4 0817939717_xvii......Page 6 0817939717_3......Page 16 0817939717_33......Page 46 0817939717_53......Page 66 0817939717_81......Page 92 0817939717_103......Page 113 0817939717_137......Page 147 0817939717_161......Page 171 0817939717_179......Page 187 0817939717_207......Page 215 0817939717_229......Page 236 0817939717_253......Page 257 0817939717_289......Page 293 0817939717_317......Page 320 0817939717_331......Page 331 0817939717_345......Page 344 The authors call on the need to combine education with capitalism. Drawing on insights and findings from history, psychology, sociology, political science, and economics, they show how, if our schools were moved from the public sector to the private sector, they could once again do a superior job providing K - 12 education. Privatization of public education would provide better schools for children, teachers, parents, policymakers, and taxpayers.