Religious Freedom

Regarding school choice, I would also like to highlight the lack of religious freedom in this country. Because children must go to secular public schools, children are forced to spend most of their day not pursuing religious education. However, if that child is Muslim or Jewish, he should be able to pray 3-5 times a day. By forcing children into public schools (unless you are wealthy and can afford parochial education), the state is denying their right to practice their own religion.

I believe in the separation of church and state; however, that idea should not restrict religious freedom. I would love to send my children (god-willing one day) to Jewish day school. However, because I am not rich I will not be able to.

What does a country without school choice say to its citizens? "Unless you are rich, you can not give your child a religious education." I think this is an affront to freedom.

A Civil Rights Issue Ignored by Democrats

The NYT published a story in 2000 entitled "Young Blacks Turn To School Vouchers As Civil Rights Issue"

The article has the following quotes regarding vouchers:

My Latest Article

School Choice: A Pro-Poor Policy, Indeed

Score one for the private sector

As a classic liberal, many people will rush to respond to anything that I have to say with, "You think the market will solve everything! But really, you are just greedy and don't want to pay taxes." However, this is not the truth.

If I believed that socialism or communism or a welfare state could solve the world's problems, I could be persuaded to back the left's agenda. However, as a classic liberal, I believe that a liberal economy gives people freedom economically AND can solve many of the world's problems such as global warming and poverty.

The latter, in the form of education, is the one that a recent FT opinion piece highlights. The writer of the article is James Tooley who won a FT/IFC essay competition on the private sector's role in development. The article starts out with the conventional wisdom about education in the Third World.

"The accepted wisdom says children such as Amaretch need billions more dollars in aid for state education."

He continues his piece by discussing the reality on the ground.

"It ignores the reality that poor parents are abandoning public schools en masse, to send their children to 'budget' private schools that charge low fees - perhaps one or two dollars per month, affordable even to parents on poverty-line wages."

I have always stated that private schools are a healthy alternative to failing schools in America (and other developed countries). However, Tooley brings this view to the Third World with some convincing evidence. He found the following results in private schools in the Third World that were paid for with a fraction of the per-pupil teacher cost in public schools:

-Better drinking water and working toilets in the schools.

-Higher academic achievement.

-Better teacher attendance and performance.

Tooley also notes that many of these schools give some impoverished children and orphans vouchers to attend these schools. In one town in India, 18% of the children in private schools fit this category.

The next issue is funding. Tooley notes the role of micro-finance which provides very small sums of money at commercial (NOT subsidized) interest rates to individuals with few or no assets. This is in stark contrast to the conventional wisdom that calls for more unconditional aid to be spent on public schools. However, Tooley notes the problem with this logic:

“Aid agencies have thrown billions at trying to get schools to improve their curriculums or teaching. These interventions are not sustainable and fade away as soon as the donor-funded experts move on. You will often find the supplied computers and videos in the government head-teachers' homes, not the school.”

Tooley maps out his vision even further with the idea of branding. These private schools can morph into chains that provide education throughout the developing world. This will help break information asymmetries. He also theorizes about joint-ventures and other ways that the thirst for profit by investors can turn into education for the impoverished. Tooley ends with a hopeful view of the future.

“Educating Amaretch (a child in Ethiopia) is a solvable problem. Entrepreneurs who have created private schools serving the poor are eager for investment; they are waiting for the investors who can assist them in pursuing their central role in providing quality ‘education for all.’”