School Choice Tradeoffs

"This is a very strong book in an important field-possibly made all the more so by the election of Governor Bush to the Presidency and the empirical grounding of the book in San Antonio, Texas, data... I am confident that the President and his advisors could learn a lot from this book, and it just could be the lever to convince the President's team to embrace new policy details-details that might pave the way for a more widespread adoption of school choice experiments." -- Stephen D. Sugarman, Agnes Roddy Robb Professor of Law, University of California School of Law, Berkeley "Godwin and Kemerer's School Choice Tradeoffs is probably the best overview and appraisal of the school choice issue yet written. It is comprehensive in scope, acquainting readers with every important aspect of the subject, and exploring many of them in great depth. The authors pull together a vast range of scholarly literature and do an admirable job of organizing it, making sense of it, and putting it to use in building their own perspective on the issue... Their treatment comes off as objective and thorough, one that readers can have confidence in and learn from." -- Terry M. Moe, Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University "School Choice Tradeoffs sets the issue of educational choice in a very broad context. The issues and tradeoffs are set within a carefully drawn theory of education. The authors rigorously explore the legal, social science, and policy issues surrounding choice, ending with a fascinating and detailed proposal to expand educational choice options and increase equity. This is a must-read book for any serious student of educational reform in America." -- John Witte, Director of the La Follette School and Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin, Madison

An overview of the issues in school choice.

Educational policy in a democracy goes beyond teaching literacy and numeracy. It also supports teaching moral reasoning, political tolerance, respect for diversity, and citizenship. Education policy should encourage liberty and equality of opportunity, hold educational institutions accountable, and be efficient. School Choice Tradeoffs examines the tradeoffs among these goals when government affords parents the means to select the schools their children attend.

Godwin and Kemerer compare current policy that uses family residence to assign students to schools with alternative policies that range from expanding public choice options to school vouchers. They identify the benefits and costs of each policy approach through a review of past empirical literature, the presentation of new empirical work, and legal and philosophic analysis.

The authors offer a balanced perspective that goes beyond rhetoric and ideology to offer policymakers and the public insight into the complex tradeoffs that are inherent in the design and implementation of school choice policies. While all policies create winners and losers, the key questions concern who these individuals are and how much they gain or lose. By placing school choice within a broader context, this book will stimulate reflective thought in all readers.