Andrew J. Coulson

The implications of Tooley’s findings are profound. Opposition to parental choice programs has often hinged on the belief that they would hurt the poor. In the wake of these results from Africa and India, it is difficult to imagine how that belief could be sustained. … more

This paper summarizes the comments offered by Dr. George Clowes and Dr. Jay P. Greene on my essay "Forging Consensus: Can the School Choice Community Come Together on an Explicit Goal and a Plan for Achieving It," as well as providing my responses to those comments.[1] Though it was written shortly after the comments were submitted, its release was deferred until permission to publish them was received. A complete, slightly revised version of Dr. Clowes’ comments is now available on-line.[2]
The sections that follow present the reviewers’ comments, grouped by topic. Comments are formatted as block quotations and ascribed to either Dr. Clowes (GC) or Dr. Greene (JPG). My responses appear in the body of the text.
Dr. Clowes is a senior fellow of the Heartland Institute and contributing editor of the paper School Choice News. Dr. Greene is a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute, and author of numerous scientific studies of American schools and school choice programs.

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[1] http://www.mackinac.org/6517

[2] http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=16914 … more

Asian students consistently outperformed those in the United States, while their parents downplayed their accomplishments. American parents, unaware of their children’s poor showings, tended to think their children were doing very well. … more