Asking the Impertinent Question
Indeed, the most compelling aspect of his essay is its modest conclusion. He does NOT argue for ending the government operation of K–12 schools. Instead, he sees the wisdom in a “mixed” system: The government continues running some schools (for the families who want them) while providing equal funding to families who want an alternative. Those dollars could then be used at “approved” schools. Far from recommending a libertarian free-for-all, Friedman sees a role for the state in both running schools and ensuring the quality of participating privately operated schools.
It would be too much to say that Friedman caused the last 35 years worth of school choice growth. Many advocates of school choice today know little of Friedman, and some of those who know his work disagree with it to some extent.
But it is not too much to say that he foresaw what K–12 schooling could and has become. In 1955, virtually every public school in America was run by the government and enrolled based on students’ home addresses. There was virtually no choice or differentiation. Today, school districts still run most public schools. But that traditional, district-based system enables more choice today than ever before: We have magnets, inter-district choice, intra-district choice, contract schools, schools inside of schools, and more.
We also have charter schools—public schools overseen by publicly approved bodies but run independently by non-governmental entities. We also have vouchers, education savings accounts, scholarship tax credits, and more—programs that allow families to access dollars that can pay for an array of privately-run options.
American schooling is still far from perfect. But the proliferation of choice over the last two generations is the biggest K–12 systemic development of our lifetimes.
It is striking that these changes owe a great deal to the thinking of an outsider who began with a simple question that the supposed experts never asked.
