After 40 years of struggle, school choice is now at the center of the debate over school reform in America, and it is of primary importance that the public understand the facts-and avoid the myths-surrounding this issue. This three-part primer is designed to educate and inform citizens about all aspects of school choice and equip them to participate in the debate as fully informed members of their communities. The report contains a historical overview of tax-funded schooling, demonstrates the failure of many popular reforms of the past and present, explains the various types of school choice, identifies the barriers to education reform, dispels myths surrounding school choice, and outlines strategic plans parents and other concerned citizens can follow to advance the cause of greater school choice.

Contents

• The Origins of Government Education in the United States
  
  
• Early Colonial Period to the American Revolution
  
  
• Revolution to the 1830s
  
  
• The 1830s and 40s
  
  
• The 1850s and Beyond
  
  

• The Effects of Monopoly in Schooling
  
  
• Consolidation of School Districts
  
  
• Ballooning Costs
  
  
• Plummeting Student Achievement
  
  
• Expensive New Obligations
  
  
• Unprepared Graduates
  
  
• Lack of Basic Academic Skills
  
  
• Violence and Drugs in Schools
  
  
• Three Types of Education Reform
  
  
• Rules
  
  
• Resources
  
  
• Incentives
  
  
• How School Choice Works
  
  
• Types of School Choice Programs
  
  
• Limited Educational Choice (Intra-District Choice, Inter-District Choice, and Charter Schools)
  
  
• Full Educational Choice (Vouchers, Private Scholarships, Tax Credits, and Universal Tuition Tax Credits)
  
  

• Constitutional and Statutory Barriers to School Choice
  
  
• Political Barriers to School Choice
  
  
• Knowledge Barriers to School Choice
  
  
• Myth #1: School choice will lead to the social, racial, and economic stratification of students in American schools
  
  
• Myth #2: School choice violates the separation of church and state
  
  
• Myth #3: Private schools are unaccountable to the public
  
  
• Myth #4: School choice allows only private schools to do the choosing, not parents
  
  
• Myth #5: Parents will use the wrong criteria to choose schools or they will make bad decisions for their children
  
  
• Myth #6: School choice will encourage the creation of radical or fraudulent schools
  
  
• Myth #7: School choice will bankrupt the already underfunded government schools
  
  
• Myth #8: School choice does not improve education
  
  
• Myth #9: School choice is just a tax break for the rich
  
  
• Myth #10: School choice is unnecessary-government education is doing well and improving
  
  
• Myth #11: School choice is just an anti-teacher ploy
  
  
• Myth #12: School choice reforms do not address the needs of some families for transportation or special education
  
  
• Myth #13: Private schools will not be able to accommodate the gifts of new students under a school choice plan
  
  

• Five Strategies to Preserve and Advance School Choice