School Choice Tradeoffs: Liberty, Equity, and Diversity

ONE. School Choice Options and Issues: An Overview

O N E School Choice Options and Issues: An Overview WHEN IT COMES TO EDUCATION POLICY, Americans want it all. We demand better test score results for all students, greater equality of opportunity, respect for diversity, preparation for good citizenship, efficiency , regulatory accountability, the development of autonomy in students , and preparation for jobs in a postindustrial society. But it is impossible to maximize educational performance in all these areas at the same time. This book is about the tradeoffs involved in any school choice policy. All decisions make tradeoffs among desirable goals, and education policy is no exception. It cannot simultaneously maximize efficiency and equity, educational outcomes for the most- and the least-advantaged students, or the rights of parents and the rights of the community. We hope that by examining the many tradeoffs that are a necessary part of education policymaking we can clarify the issues involved in answering the question, ‘‘What school choice policy is best?’’ Selecting the most desirable education policies requires that we first identify the most important goals for education. Three educational goals enjoy the support of almost everyone who lives in liberal democratic societies such as the United States and Canada. Students should learn the economic skills necessary to become economically independent, the political skills and understandings necessary to support the democratic process and to participate rationally in it, and the moral reasoning required to understand what constitutes ethical behavior and why such behavior is the cornerstone of a good society. The justifications for economic skills and political judgment are selfevident in the words ‘‘liberal democratic society.’’ To have full liberty, an individual must have the capability to be economically independent. For democracy to work, people must be able to participate meaningfully in the political process. But why give moral reasoning equal status? Some who prefer a strict wall of separation between church and state might argue that moral reasoning is outside the purview of public education. We think a moment’s reflection will convince readers that schools have an obligation to develop moral reasoning in every student. While the U.S. Constitution prohibits the state from teaching religious beliefs in public schools, it does not prohibit teaching the principles of justice that are fundamental to a civil democratic society. Reasoned political decisionmaking depends heavily on the ability to engage in moral reasoning. More important , moral reasoning is the key variable leading to moral behavior, an outcome that all of us desire.1 The issue, therefore, is not whether schools should teach moral reasoning, but how they should teach it. We argue that liberal democracy requires one other fundamental policy goal—equal educational opportunity. Liberalism holds that social, political , and economic rewards should result from the combination of reason , skill, and hard work. Contemporary liberalism2 maintains that public funding of education is the chief mechanism the state uses to reduce the inequalities in economic and social rewards created by the circumstances of birth and childhood. If the rational application of skills is a necessary condition for achieving rewards, then a just education policy will provide students with equal opportunities to develop rationality and to obtain skills. WHY CHANGE CURRENT POLICIES? There are many other legitimate and important educational policy goals. Most Americans want an educational system that is efficient, respects diversity, assists economic growth, provides accountability to citizens, and gives parents reasonable control over the values their children learn. Americans also want an education that encourages individual autonomy and respect for the common good. In our discussion of these various goals, we make three fundamental assumptions. First, no educational goal has absolute priority. Second, resources spent on any goal are subject to diminishing marginal returns. And third, every goal conflicts with at least one other. If these assumptions are true, then policymakers must constantly make difficult tradeoffs as they allocate scarce resources. The United States has an education system that most of the world would love to emulate. We make available free public education to all residents and spend more per pupil than any other country. Graduates of our public schools attend colleges and universities that are among the best in the world. Public opinion polls indicate that most parents are reasonably 2 school choice tradeoffs satisfied with the schools their children attend. Why should we change such a system? The most important reasons are that current policies create highly unequal educational opportunities and...