The Case Against School Choice: Politics, Markets and Fools : Politics, Markets and Fools

"Compelling arguments, supported by both anecdotal and empirical evidence to convince readers that school choice does nothing to improve the quality of education. ... Solidly researched and written, Smith's and Meier's effort should sway those still undecided on the issue". -- Publishers Weekly Public School Choice Is A Policy Gaining Wide Popular And Political Support. Spurred By Perceptions Of An Education System In Crisis, Proponents Of School Choice Argue That An Education Marketplace Will Produce Better Schools. Give Students And Parents Choice, These Advocates Claim, And Schools Will Be Forced To Improve Or Close. The Promise Of A Choice-based System, However, Is Largely Unfulfilled. Despite All The Rhetoric, The Successes Of Existing Choice Systems Are Questionable, And The Theories And Assumptions That Provide Intellectual Support For Choice Have Never Been Systematically Tested. This Book Provides That Test. Professors Smith And Meier Show That A Choice-based System Will Not Improve American Education. Choice Theorists Have Exaggerated The Decline In Educational Performance And Misidentified Its Causes. Their Proposed Market Cure Is Modeled On Unfounded Assumptions. Persuasive Though It May Sound, The School Choice Argument Is Demonstrably False And Misleading. And What Is Worse, It Is Likely To Promote Racial, Religious, And Socio-economic Segregation.--book Jacket. Ch. 1. The Hobgoblins Of Education Policy -- Ch. 2. Problems, Solutions, And Choices -- Ch. 3. The Institutional Theory: School Choice Revisited -- Ch. 4. Organization, Competition, And Performance -- Ch. 5. Private Schools: The Chicken Or The Egg? -- Ch. 6. Politics And Performance -- Ch. 7. Fixin' What Ain't Broke: Education Performance In The 1980s -- Ch. 8. Choice Across The Borders -- Ch. 9. Conclusion -- Ch. 10. Epilogue: Last Choice. Kevin B. Smith, Kenneth J. Meier. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 155-160) And Index. This discussion of public school choice considers school choice at all levels. It argues that choice programmes: promote inequity rather than improved quality; are expensive; require a large bureaucracy to administer; and do not necessarily lead to better education.