Education: August 2009 Archives

The school choice community suffered a blow today with the passing of Rose D. Friedman, wife of the late Professor Milton Friedman and co-author with him of the 1962 book "Capitalism and Freedom," and the groundbreaking "Free to Choose" book and television series of the late 1970's.

After distinguished careers notable for their important contributions in the filed of economics, the Friedmans dedicated their later life to the advancement of school choice through the establishment of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. That institution now supports school choice efforts across the nation, consistent with the vision outlined by Milton Friedman in a 1955 essay titled The Role of Government in Education.

Their work has resulted in expanded educational options being made available to thousands of children nationwide, and has inspired a generation of school choice supporters, myself included.

Though records of her birth in a small Russian village have been lost, Rose Friedman was believed to be 98.

R.I.P.

They come from right of center and left of center, but the Wall St. Journal and the Portland Press Herald share some common ground on issues of education reform.

In an editorial today, the Journal describes two instances, one in Baltimore and the other in New York City, in which teacher unions undertake actions that benefit union members while harming students.

"Unions exist to advance the interests of their members," says the paper. "The problem is that unions present themselves as student advocates while pushing education policies that work for their members even if they leave kids worse off."

"Until school choice puts more money and power in the hands of parents," the editorial concludes, "public education will continue to put teachers ahead of students."

Ouch.

The Press Herald strikes a similar theme in the lead editorial it published today. Reporting on the troubling data about high school dropouts, the paper finds that it "is clear that with one in five students leaving high school without out a diploma, the current set of programs in public high schools is not working well enough."

"That is why it is perplexing," the Press Herald editorializes, "in the face of this demonstrated need for more alternatives, that Maine has consistently resisted joining the rest of the country in creating a legal mechanism to provide more. That would be charter school legislation, which was again defeated this year in the Maine Legislature."

"Charter schools have not solved the dropout problem in other states but they have been a tool that has proven to be effective" the paper concludes. "Maine should stop limiting its options to address this problem and pass a charter school law."

The key to meaningful reform of our schools, the two papers seem to be saying, lies in providing more options to students and parents, thereby breaking up a public school monopoly that too often underserves our kids.

Why didn't we think of that?