School Choice Policies and Outcomes : Empirical and Philosophical Perspectives

Perhaps no school reform has generated as much interest and controversy in recent years as the proposal to have parents select their children's schools. Opponents of school choice fear that rolling back the government's role will lead to profit-driven financial scandals, sectarianism, and increased class and racial isolation. School choice advocates believe that state provision, oversight, and regulation stifle entrepreneurial creativity. The contributors to this volume not only provide a clear assessment of the logic and evidence supporting the different sides of the debate but also unmask the assumptions about the relationship between markets, government, and educational achievement. Their message is that neither markets nor government alone will guarantee freedom, equality, achievement, or community. If choice is to improve education and advance equality, then educational policy cannot be placed on automatic and left to the "free" market. Rather, choice policy must be deliberately directed toward meeting these goals, and this book shows how that could be accomplished. Following an introduction by the editors, this book contains these chapters: (1) Common Schooling and Educational Choice as a Response to Pluralism (Rob Reich); (2) Educational Equality and Varieties of School Choice (Harry Brighouse); (3) Evidence, the Conservative Paradigm, and School Choice (Kenneth R. Howe); (4) Intergenerational Justice and School Choice (Kathleen Knight Abowitz); (5) The Politics of Parental Choice: Theory and Evidence on Quality Information (Christopher Lubienski); (6) Social Class Differences in School Choice: The Role of Preferences (Courtney A. Bell); (7) Managers of Choice: Race, Gender, and the Political Ideology of the "New" Urban School Leadership (Janelle T. Scott); (8) Where Does the Power Lie Now? Devolution, Choice, and Democracy in Schooling (Liz Gordon); (9) Parental Choice: The Liberty Principle in Education Finance in Postapartheid South Africa (Bekisizwe S. Ndimande); and (10) The Dialectic of Parent Rights and Societal Obligation: Constraining Educational Choice (Walter Feinberg). An index is also included School Choice Policies and Outcomes......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 1. Common Schooling and Educational Choice as a Response to Pluralism......Page 30 2. Educational Equality and Varieties of School Choice......Page 50 3. Evidence, the Conservative Paradigm, and School Choice......Page 70 4. Intergenerational Justice and School Choice......Page 88 5. The Politics of Parental Choice: Theory and Evidence on Quality Information......Page 108 6. Social Class Differences in School Choice: The Role of Preferences......Page 130 7. Managers of Choice: Race, Gender, and the Philosophies of the New Urban School Leadership......Page 158 8. Where Does the Power Lie Now? Devolution, Choice and Democracy in Schooling......Page 186 9.Parental Choice: The Liberty Principle in Education Finance in Postapartheid South Africa......Page 206 10. The Dialectic of Parent Rights and Societal Obligation: Constraining Educational Choice......Page 228 Contributors......Page 246 E......Page 250 V......Page 251 Back Cover ......Page 252 Introduction / Walter Feinberg and Christopher Lubienski Common schooling and educational choice as a response to pluralism / Rob Reich Educational equality and varieties of school choice / Harry Brighouse Evidence, the conservative paradigm, and school choice / Kenneth R. Howe Intergenerational justice and school choice / Kathleen Knight Abowitz The politics of parental choice : theory and evidence on quality information / Christopher Lubienski Social class differences in school choice : the role of preferences / Courtney A. Bell Managers of choice : race, gender, and the philosophies of the new urban school leadership / Janelle T. Scott Where does the power lie now? devolution, choice, and democracy in schooling / Liz Gordon Parental choice : the liberty principle in education finance in postapartheid South Africa / Bekisizwe S. Ndimande The dialectic of parent rights and societal obligation : constraining educational choice / Walter Feinberg.