Ever-increasing numbers of parents happily exercise these options, just as even larger numbers happily use their government grants or subsidized loans to patronize competing preschools, colleges, and universities
The late Walt Disney made a name for himself, and a fortune, by excelling in fields crowded with other high performers: cartooning, publishing, filmmaking, marketing, and storytelling. I have been up against tough competition all my life, Disney once said. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.
If the case for educational freedom were predicated solely on this personal belief, though, we’d be inviting the argument that there’s something unique about schooling, something that makes competition harmful in education even if it’s helpful in other sectors
There’s nothing perfect about competition. It’s exhausting, sometimes frustrating, often messy. There are no guarantees. Still, competition usually drives cost down and quality up. Its absence usually leads to trouble.
We don’t all make the same arguments and favor the same policies. What we share is a common belief that students will receive a better education when their parents are empowered to make choices among competing alternatives. Continue reading “Those of us who advocate educational freedom bring a variety of assumptions and objectives to the cause”