Education by
Choice
The Case for
Family Control
with
an appendix
introducing
family choice in education through state constitutional change
by
John
E. Coons & Stephen D. Sugarman
Education by
Choice
was, and remains, the only comprehensive statement of the intellectual and moral
foundations of the school choice movement. Previous authors had understood government subsidy of
parental sovereignty either in instrumental terms—as an application of free
market theory—or as a natural or religious right of the family.
In 1978, this book gathered these contrasting themes, showing their
subtle harmony not only with the common good, but with the special interests of
the child (i.e. moral and material necessities as well as the ideal of liberty).
The children most clearly addressed in this book are those of the
ordinary and low-income family.
Education by
Choice
is a well-researched assessment of alternative provisional systems of education.
In exploring the possibilities, Coons and Sugarman acknowledge the potential
snarls and dodges, legal issues and psychological hurdles, economic—drawbacks
and incentives for each plan. This book is for anyone interested in school choice and
parental concerns in education. Specifically
for courses on educational policy, education and the law, public policy, and
educational reform.
1999/
290 pp. / paper $31.95/ ISBN: 1-891928-02-3