Sheldon Richman, Separating School & State: How to Liberate America's Families (Fairfax, VA: The Future of Freedom Foundation, 1994), p 11.
James Mulhern, A History of Education: A Social Interpretation, 2nd Ed. (New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1959), p 505; Samuel L. Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary? (Old Greenwich, CT: The Devin-Adair Company, 1981), p 11; and Richman, Separating School & State&, pp 40-41.
Edwin Grant Dexter, A History of Education in the United States (London: Macmillan & Co., LTD., 1904), pp 24-37; Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 17-18; and Ellwood P. Cubberley, Public Education in the United States: A Study and Interpretation of American Educational History (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1919), pp 23-24, 28-32.
Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 19-20.
Mulhern , A History of Education: A Social Interpretation, pp 592-594; and Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 20, 23-24, 43.
Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 24-26, 56.
Edgar W. Knight and Clifton L. Hall, Readings in American Educational History (New York: Appleton-Crofts, Inc., 1951), pp 316, 321; and Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 57.
Dexter, A History of Education in the United States, pp 90-96; Mulhern , A History of Education: A Social Interpretation, pp 604-610; and John D. Pulliam, History of Education in America. 5th ed. (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991), pp 77-78.
Henry J. Perkinson, The Imperfect Panacea: American Faith in Education, 4th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995), p 14.
Barry W. Poulson, "Education and the Family During the Industrial Revolution," in Joseph R. Peden and Fred R. Glahe, eds., The American Family and the State (San Francisco: Pacific Research Institute, 1986), p 138.
Richman, Separating School & State..., p 38.
Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, p 36.
Perkinson, The Imperfect Panacea..., pp 14-16, 27-32; and Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 43-44.
Cubberley, Public Education in the United States..., pp 175-176; and Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 48, 56.
Perkinson, The Imperfect Panacea..., pp 27-32.
Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, p 66.
In fact, in 1820 only about 22 percent of the school-aged children outside of Boston attended public schools. Private academies flourished. Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, p 56.
Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, p 164
Ibid., pp 164-165.
Gerald L. Gutek, An Historical Introduction to American Education, 2nd ed. (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., 1991), pp 63-67; Pulliam, History of Education in America, pp 72-73; Cubberley, Public Education in the United States..., p 175; and Mulhern, A History of Education: A Social Interpretation, pp 507-508, 597-598.
Gutek, An Historical Introduction to American Education, p 60.
Victor Cousin, Report on the Condition of Public Instruction in Germany, and particularly Prussia. Originally submitted to the French government in 1831 and published in New York City in the winter of 1834-35. As cited in Floyd R. Dain, Education in the Wilderness (Lansing, MI: Michigan Historical Society, 1968), p 204.
Dain, Education in the Wilderness, p 204; Perkinson, The Imperfect Panacea..., pp 22-27; Dexter, A History of Education in the United States, pp 97-102; Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 140, 184; and Cubberley, Public Education in the United States..., p 161.
Dexter, A History of Education in the United States, pp 100-101.
Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, pp 180-181; and Cubberley, Public Education in the United States..., pp 163-165.
Perkinson, The Imperfect Panacea..., pp 27-32.
Jim B. Pearson and Edgar Fuller, ed., Education in the States: Historical Development and Outlook (Washington, D.C.: National Education Association of the United States, 1969), pp 179-182, 373-376, 463-467, 565-568, 949-954, 1091-1095; and Edgar W. Knight and Clifton L. Hall, Readings in American Educational History (New York: Appleton-Century-Crafts, Inc., 1951), pp 247, 316, 321, 359-361, 366.
Ibid.
Michigan, Constitution of 1835, art. 1, sec. 5.
These prohibitions are often referred to as Blaine Amendments. As Speaker of the House, James G. Blaine proposed an amendment to prohibit public aid to religious schools—something that had been commonly accepted until then. Many states adopted this language in their state constitutions in an effort to prevent Catholics from using public funds for education as Protestants had done for many years.
David Kirkpatrick, "The Bigotry of Blaine Amendments," Crisis in Education, February 1998, p 12.
Michigan, Constitution of 1963, art. 8, sec. 1.
Clarence B. Carson, The Beginning of the Republic, 1775-1825 (Wadley, AL: American Textbook Committee, 1984), pp 67-68.
Gerald L and Gladys I. Poor, Griffith, A Manual For Public Education in Michigan, (Mt. Pleasant, MI: Central Michigan College, 1956), p 11.
Dain, Education in the Wilderness, p 207.
Ibid., pp 212-13.
Ibid., p 227.
Ibid., pp 238-239.
Michigan Senate, "Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction," Joint Documents, 1841, Vol. I, No. 9, p 341.
Cubberley, Public Education in the United States..., pp 273-274.
Phrase taken from the Pierce v. Society of Sisters Supreme Court ruling. Pierce v. Society of Sisters 268 U.S. 510, 535 (1925).
Cubberley, Public Education in the United States..., pp 237-238, 273-274.
See "State Ballot Issue C: Prohibit Use of Public Money for Support of Non-Public Schools," Council Comment, No. 833, Citizens Research Council of Michigan, 14 October 1970.
Traverse City School District v Attorney General, 384 Mich. 390 at 407 (1971), note 2; and 411, note 3. "Shared time" generally refers to students who primarily attend private schools but receive instruction in some secular subjects at a government school or other taxpayer-funded facility.
Compiled Law 7379 of 1929; Council Comment, October 1970.
Michigan, Constitution of 1963, art. 8, sec. 1.
This is dated from the court decisions outlawing school prayer that occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but there has been constant tension over the balance between government and religion since the founding of the nation. Cases on schools and religion have reached the U. S. Supreme Court on several occasions, and these cases mostly determine the outlines of allowable activities. The seminal supreme court cases in the last few decades have been Everson v Board of Education (1947), Lemon v Kurtzman (1971), Committee on Public Education v Nyquist (1973), Mueller v Allen (1982), and Rosenberger v Rector (1995).
Rosenberger v Rector and Visitors of Univ. of Va. 515 US ____ , 132 L Ed 2d 700, 115 Sct. 2510 (1995), (slip op. at 18). The court's discussion here even encompasses direct aid, as long as the aid is for activities that are neutral toward religion. On the tax preference issue in particular, Justice Thomas in his concurrence in Rosenberger v Rector, 9, gives an extensive history of government tax exemptions for religious institutions.
The law allowed up to 50 percent of the salaries of certified lay teachers to be reimbursed by the state. Council Comments, October 1970.
Traverse City School District v Attorney General, 384 Mich. 390 at 406 (1971), note 1.
Advisory Opinion re Constitutionality of 1970 PA 100, 384 Mich. 82 (1970); as cited by the same court in Traverse City School District v Attorney General, 384 Mich. 390 at 406 (1971).
Council Comments, October 1970.
The Supreme Court later noted the "voter was barraged by contradictory statements," including those made by prominent supporters and public officials. Traverse City School District v Attorney General, 384 Mich. 390 at 407-409 (1971), note 2. See also Council Comment, October 1970.
Michigan, Constitution of 1963, art. 8, sec. 2; added by amendment in 1970.
Traverse City School District v Attorney General, 384 Mich. 390, 185 NW 2d 9 (1971).
The National Commission on Excellence in Education, "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform," A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education, April 1983.
Ibid.
James R. Rhinehart and Jackson F. Lee, Jr., "Can the Marketplace Save Our Schools?," South Carolina Policy Council Education Foundation, November 1994.
Peronet Despeignes, "Economists See School Reforms As Key To The New Economy,'" Investor's Business Daily, 24 September 1997, p B1.
Ibid.
Herbert Walberg, "Losing Local Control of Education: Cost and Quality Implications," A Heartland Policy Study No. 59, The Heartland Institute, 22 November 1993, p 1; and National Center for Education Statistics, "Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1995-96," Statistics in Brief, NCES 98-206, U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement, April 1998, p 2.
John Hood, "Education: Money Isn't Everything," The Wall Street Journal, 9 February 1990, p A10; American Legislative Exchange Council, Report Card on American Education 1996: A State-by-State Analysis, October 1997, p 3; and Laura M. Litvan, "More Firms Paying Kids' Tuition," Investor's Business Daily, 28 August 1997, p A1.
Education Intelligence Agency, One Yard Below: Education Statistics from a Different Angle, A report of the Education Intelligence Agency, March 1998, p 2.
The Parental Choice ADVOCATE, The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, January 1998, p 8.
Paul Ciotti, "Money and School Performance: Lessons from the Kansas City Desegregation Experiment," Policy Analysis No. 298, Cato Institute, 16 March 1998.
Chester E. Finn Jr., "Why America Has the World's Dimmest Bright Kids," The Wall Street Journal, 25 February 1998, p A22.
Debra Viadero, "U.S. Seniors Near Bottom in World Test," Education Week, 4 March 1998, p 1.
Adrienne Fox, "Disabling Students With Labels?," Investor's Business Daily, 17 March 1998, p A1.
Jennifer Juarez Robles, "Archer to get schools request," Detroit Free Press, 8 January 1998, p 3B.
Peter Applebome, "Record School Enrollments, Now and Ahead," The New York Times, 22 August 1997, p A8.
Richard Whitmire, "High school graduates score F's," The Detroit News, 9 January 1998, p 5A.
Isabel Lyman, "When Public Schools Fail, Parents Go Home," Investor's Business Daily, 12 March 1998, p A30.
Adrienne Fox, "Passing the Educational Buck," Investor's Business Daily, 8 January 1998, p A1.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Linda McDaniels, Michigan Department of Education, e-mail correspondence with author, 14 August 1998.
Mark Hornbeck, "Weapons get 600 expelled," The Detroit News, 11 January 1998, p 1A.
Mike Martindale, "Violence frequent in state schools," The Detroit News, 27 February 1998, p 6A.
Louann A. Bierlein, Controversial Issues in Educational Policy (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1993), pp 91-92.
Joseph Bast and Robert Wittman, "Educational Choice Design Guidelines," A Heartland Policy Study No. 39, The Heartland Institute, May 1991, pp 6-18; and Bierlein, Controversial Issues in Educational Policy, p 92.
Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1962).
John E. Coons and Stephen D. Sugarman, Family Choice in Education: A Model State System for Vouchers (Berkley, CA: University of California, Institute of Governmental Studies, 1971).
John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe, "Politics, Markets, and the Organization of Schools," American Political Science Review, vol. 82 no. 4, December 1988, pp 1084-1085.
Children's Educational Opportunity Foundation; available on the Internet at www.childrenfirstamerica.org. Accessed on 13 July 1999.
Litvan, "More Firms Paying Kids Tuition," p A1.
Patrick L. Anderson, Richard McLellan, Joseph P. Overton, and Gary Wolfram, The Universal Tuition Tax Credit: A Proposal to Advance Parental Choice in Education, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, November 1997.
Renee L. Reso, "Mother gives up guardianship to allow son to go to school in preferred district," Midland (MI) Daily News, 26 September 1989, p 3A.
Joan Richardson, "Sending child to new public school costs parents," Detroit Free Press, 19 November 1991, p 3A; and Ted O' Neil, "Gifted student not allowed to attend accelerated school," Midland (MI) Daily News, 24 September 1991, p 1A.
Deborah Lowers, "Mom in jail for wanting a better life,'" The News-Herald, 7 December 1996, p A-3.
John F. Hagan, "Boy goes to wrong school; mom goes to jail," The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, 7 December 1996, p 1-A.
Robert W. Kasten and Gregory Fossedal, "Teacher unions and school choice in countries that have both," Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, 18 January 1996.
Author interview with Arthur T. Vrettas, consultant with the Michigan Department of Education, 13 July 1999.
Nicole Bondi, "Bloomfield Hills Schools tuition plan adds 34 kids," The Detroit News, 31 August 1998, p 4D.
The 1998-1999 National Charter School Directory, The Center for Education Reform, November 1997.
Act No. 362 of the Public Acts of 1993; MCL 380.501.
Letter to Eric Gilbertson, page 1 and page 2, President of Saginaw Valley State University from David C. Sabedra, Executive Director of the Michigan Education Association's Region 12-D Uniserv Office, dated 26 May 1994.
Charles Hurt, "Students rush to charter schools as parents reject public education," The Detroit News, 7 August 1997, p 1D.
Mark Hornbeck, "High court upholds charter schools," The Detroit News, 31 July 1997, p 1D.
Michigan Association of Public School Academies; available on the Internet at www.charterschools.org/mapsa/qanda/facts.html. Accessed on 13 July 1999.
Children's Educational Opportunity Foundation; available on the Internet at www.childrenfirstamerica.org/legislation.html. Accessed on 13 July 1999.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid. and Matthew Robinson, "School Choice Goes To Court," Investor's Business Daily, 11 June 1998, p A1.
Jessica L. Sandham, "Florida House Approves Bush's Voucher Plan; Senate Action Likely," Education Week, 7 April 1999, p 22.
Children's Educational Opportunity Foundation; available on the Internet at www.childrenfirstamerica.org/investments.html. Accessed on 13 July 1999.
Jeff Archer, "Voucher Proponents Claim Victory in Albany," Education Week, 11 February 1998, p 5.
Nina Shokraii, "School Choice 1998: A Progress Report," The Heritage Foundation No. 172, 30 January 1998, p 5.
Editorial, "School Choice Showdown," The Wall Street Journal, 10 March 1998, p A22.
Ted Forstmann, " School Choice, by Popular Demand," The Wall Street Journal, April 21, 1999, p A22.
Partners Advancing Values in Education; available on the Internet at www.pave.org. Accessed on 24 March 1998.
Nina Shokraii and Sarah Youssef, School Choice Programs: What's Happening in the States, 1998 edition, The Heritage Foundation, pp 18-20.
Dave A. DeShryver, "What's Working Around the Country," The Center for Education Reform, April 1999.
Wayne Woolley, "Parents rally for school choice," The Detroit News, 1 February 1998, p 3B.
Association of American Educators; available on the Internet at www.aaeteachers.org/survey.html. Accessed on 25 March 1998.
Glen Macnow, "Michigan Teachers Oppose Merit Pay, Urge Reform," Education Week, 5 October 1983.
Denis P. Doyle, Where Connoisseurs Send Their Children to School: An Analysis of 1990 Census Data to Determine Where School Teachers Send Their Children to School, The Center for Education Reform, May 1995, p 21.
Floyd Flake, "Party Politics and Educational Choice," The Parental Choice ADVOCATE, January 1998, p 6.
School Choice YES! news release dated 6 Novemeber 1998; available on the Internet at www.schoolchoiceyes.org/releases/981106.htm. Accessed on 16 July 1999.
Mathew J. Brouillette and Jeffrey R. Williams, The Impact of School Choice on School Employee Labor Unions, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, June 1999. Available on the Internet at www.mackinac.org/1926.
Claude R. Marx, "Teachers Unions Flex Muscles." Investor's Business Daily, 26 November 1997, p A1.
Mark Hornbeck, "MEA led state in '96 campaign donations," The Detroit News, 9 September 1997, p 4A.
David Harmer, School Choice: Why We Need It; How We Get It. (Washington, D. C.: Cato Institute, 1994), pp 147-148. Harmer's book is a review of the Proposition 174 experience in California.
See the Michigan School Board Leaders Association Web site at www.msbla.org.
Harmer, School Choice..., p 148.
School Choice YES! news release dated 13 May 1999; available on the Internet at www.schoolchoiceyes.org/releases/980513.htm. Accessed on 16 July 1999.
Anthony P. Carnevale, Education and Training For America's Future (Washington, D.C.: The Manufacturing Institute, 1998); and Lyman, "When Public Schools Fail...," p A30.
James S. Coleman and Thomas Hoffer, Public and Private High Schools: The Impact of Communities (New York: Basic Books, 1987).
Jay P. Greene and Nicole Mellow, "Integration Where it Counts: A Study of Racial Integration in Public and Private School Lunchrooms," University of Texas at Austin, 20 August 1998.
"To Save the Cities, Reform the Schools," School Reform News, December 1997, p 3.
David Barton, "The Foundations of American Government," A Transcript of the Video and Audio by the Same Title (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 1993), pp 8-10.
Pierce v. Society of Sisters; 268 U. S. 510,535 (1925).
Wisconsin v. Yoder; 406 U. S. 205 (1972).
Wolman v. Walter; 433 U. S. 229, 262 (1977).
Mueller v. Allen; 77 L.Ed.2d 721, 728 (1983).
Matthew Robinson, "School Choice Goes To Court," Investor's Business Daily, June 11, 1998, p A1.
Charles J. O' Malley, Ph.D., "Who Says Private Schools Aren't Accountable?," Prepared for Temple University and Manhattan Institute, Western Regional Science Association, October 1995, p 8.
Author's experience. Santa Fe Christian Schools, a K-12 non-denominational school in Solana Beach, California, is accredited by a regional public agency called WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) and by a national private agency called ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International). By comparison, the ACSI process is much more detailed and rigorous.
Danielle L. Schultz, "Lessons from America's Best Run Schools," The Washington Monthly, November 1983, pp 52-53.
Lawrence Mead, "Jobs for the Welfare Poor," Policy Review, winter 1988, p 65.
Ted Forstmann, " School Choice, by Popular Demand," The Wall Street Journal, 21 April 1999, p A22.
American Legislative Exchange Council, Report Card on American Education 1996: A State-by-State Analysis, October 1997, pp 27-28.
Governor John Engler's Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Recommendation, First in the 21st: A Budget for Michigan's Taxpayers, Overview, p A-5; available on the Internet at www.state.mi.us/dmb/dir/budgets.htm.
Peter Applebome, "Record School Enrollments, Now and Ahead," The New York Times, 22 August 1997, p A8.
Janet R. Beales, "Doing More With Less: Competitive Contracting for School Support Services," Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Reason Foundation, November 1994, p 2.
John E. Chubb, Educational Choice, Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Mediocrity in American Education and What Can Be Done About It, The Yankee Institute for Public Policy Studies, July 1989, p 22.
John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe. "American Public Schools: Choice is a Panacea," The Brooking Review, summer 1990.
Laura M. Litvan, "More Firms Paying Kids' Tuition," Investor's Business Daily, August 28, 1997, p A1.
Howard L. Fuller, "The Real Evidence: An Honest Research Update on School Choice Experiments," Wisconsin Interest, fall/winter 1997, p 20.
Jay P. Greene, Paul E. Peterson, and Jiangtao Du, "Effectiveness of School Choice: The Milwaukee Experiment," Harvard University Education Program on Education Policy and Governance, Occasional Paper 97-1, March 1997; and Jay P. Greene and Paul E. Peterson, "An Evaluation of the Cleveland Scholarship Program," Harvard University Education Program on Education Policy and Governance, September 1997.
"PROGRESS: News about Michigan's Charter Schools," Michigan Association of Public School Academies, April 1998, p 2.
Michigan Association of Public School Academies; available on the Internet at www.charterschools.org/mapsa/qanda/facts.html. Accessed on 13 July 1999.
Mark Mayes, "Lansing Schools to Unleash Marketing Push," Lansing State Journal, 5 May 1997.
Sandra Vergari and Michael Mintrom, "Public Opinion on K-12 Education in Michigan," Michigan State of the State Survey, Briefing Paper 98-36, May 1998.
Cited in "Empowering Parents To Drive Education Reform," Council of Baptist Pastors, p 11.
"Detroit Public Schools poll," Detroit Free Press, 6 February 1999.
Ibid., p 9.
Quoted in Richman, Separating School & State..., p 11.
Isabel Lyman, "When Public Schools Fail, Parents Go Home," Investor's Business Daily, 12 March 1998, p A30.
Adrienne Fox, "Passing the Educational Buck," Investor's Business Daily, 8 January 1998, p A1.
Debra Viadero, "U.S. Seniors Near Bottom in World Test," Education Week, 4 March 1998, p 1 and U.S. News & World Report, 9 March 1998, p 14.
Anderson, et al, The Universal Tuition Tax Credit..., p 17. Accessible on the Internet at www.mackinac.org/article.asp?ID=362.
Deroy Murdock, "Teachers warm to school choice," The Washington Times, National Weekly Edition, 25-31 May 1998, p 34.
William Styring, "Teachers and School Choice," American Outlook, spring 1998, p 51.
Denis P. Doyle, Where Connoisseurs Send Their Children to School: An Analysis of 1990 Census Data to Determine Where School Teachers Send Their Children to School, The Center for Education Reform, May 1995, p 21.
Mathew J. Brouillette and Jeffrey R. Williams, The Impact of School Choice on School Employee Labor Unions, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, June 1999. Available on the Internet at www.mackinac.org/article.asp?ID=1926.
The National Right to Work Committee, "Forced Unionism is Shutting Down American Education," brochure, p 2.
Ibid.
Robert W. Kasten and Gregory Fossedal, "Teacher unions and school choice in countries that have both," Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, 18 January 1996.
"Detroit Public Schools poll," Detroit Free Press, 6 February 1999.
Janet R. Beales and Thomas F. Bertonneau, Do Private Schools Serve Difficult-to-Educate Students?, Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Reason Foundation, October 1997, p 1. Accessible on the Internet at www.mackinac.org/article.asp?ID=361.
Brouillette, Unused Capacity.... Accessible on the Internet at www.mackinac.org/article.asp?ID=1626.
Richman, Separating School & State..., p 89.
Stephen Reder, "The State of Literacy in America: Synthetic Estimates of Adult Literacy Proficiency at the local state, and national levels," National Institute for Literacy. Available on The Internet at www.nifl.gov/reders/reder.htm.
Christopher J. Klicka, The Right Choice: Home Schooling (Gresham, OR: Noble Publishing Associates, 1995), pp 153-169.
Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary?, p 21.