The wisdom and wins of a 70-year-old essay that—I admit—I never really liked
In school-choice circles, Milton Friedman’s 1955 essay “The Role of Government in Education” is considered a (if not the) seminal text. It’s often credited with being the first to propose a voucher-like system for American K–12 education.
Today, school choice is a dominant force in education policy. Parents can select from an array of school options via an array of government programs. The scholarship tax-credit program in the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill will likely amount to the largest expansion of choice in American history. It is not too much to say that Friedman’s thinking has won the day.
Despite all of this—I must admit, ugh—I never liked that essay all that much. This is a very strange thing for a long–time school–choice advocate to concede. But it’s true.
Continue reading the entire piece here at Education Next
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Andy Smarick is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.
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