Independent Schools at Risk

Jacob H. Huebert
Wednesday, September 1, 1999

“As discontentment with government schools grows, tax-funded “school choice” has emerged as the leading reform proposal. School-choice programs typically include a voucher plan, although some would make direct payments from the government to private schools. Those proposals are intended to give parents new school alternatives, which are sorely needed, particularly in inner cities. Yet at the same time, private schools, by accepting the money, would become much like the public schools against which they are supposed to compete. Historical examples of government-sponsored school choice, here and in other nations, show that when private schools sign on to such programs, they often sign away their independence.”