Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > November > 17 > Entry
The father of vouchers, charters
(Milton Friedman)
Internationally, Milton Friedman was best known as a groundbreaking thinker on economics. But his ideas also have had a profound impact on education in the U.S. and indirectly helped change the face of public education right here in Dayton.
Milton, who died Thursday, was memorialized in a long front page obituary in the New York Times.
Milton, put simply, was the uber libertarian. He believed democracies should have the smallest possible governments and that markets should shape nearly all facets of life. In a simple essay in 1955 entitled “the Role of Government in Education” he argued the U.S. should abandon government-funded schools and instead give “vouchers” that parents could take to any private school and use to purchase education for their kids.
It was Friedman’s ideas that were picked up by Ronald Reagan, who began pushing for experiments with school vouchers in the 1980s. Dayton native Checker Finn, who worked in the U.S. Department of Education under Reagan, later pushed for expansion of an in-the-system, voucher-like program that became known as “charter” schools.
In both cases, many proponents hoped to bring market forces to the table in education to try to force bureaucratic public systems to innovate and improve performance.
Nowhere in the U.S. have market forces had a greater impact on an urban education system than here in Dayton, where we’ve been a leader in the percentage of kids going to charter schools. This is partly thanks to Finn and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which was founded here and continues to influence education locally.
And Ohio, of course, became the test case through which the U.S. Supreme Court decided vouchers were permissible under the constitution.
Nobody can argue Friedman’s remarkable influence on the world. Education was just something of a hobby for him, and look at the impact his ideas have had there. Whether his was a good or bad influence on education is still open to debate.
(Image credit: www.ideachannel.com)
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
Comments
By Rick
November 26, 2006 1:56 PM | Link to this
Scott, I am posting the below link to the NYT Magazine of today. This is an 18 page article that I wanted to call your attention to it. I’ve read it once, but will want to read it several more times before I comment on it. Notice the article is objective, does not look at things from a liberal-conservative perspective but from a pragmatic perspective. Just wanted to call your attention to it. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/magazine/26tough.html?_r=1&pagewanted=printBy Rick
November 24, 2006 9:55 AM | Link to this
MJ, sorry, but I do not take “assignments” from you. To answer your question-yes I do think the Ohio Supreme Court decision was wrong and it should not be followed.By MJ
November 22, 2006 11:57 AM | Link to this
Rick: Have you finished your “research” on charter schools and schools funding yet? We all have a right to our opinions, facts are welcome too.By MJ
November 22, 2006 7:53 AM | Link to this
Mary, These conversations are GREAT!! Thank you for making some good points. My statement about all chioces being better was a general statement and not fair to everyone. I probably should have just said most. Yes I have been to the suburbs. And I see a tremendous difference in the overall conditions and quallity of life that all Ohioians deserve. I am not angry at those who experience it. I would like for the same opportunities to be afforded to all children and citizens. We all deserve better, but not by taking away from anyone else.By Mary
November 21, 2006 4:06 PM | Link to this
Lou, from some google searches, it appears Ebbers graduated from Mississippi College with a major in physical education and a minor in secondary education in 1967. According to one link from Nick Louth, a money correspondent for MSN, Ebbers was at various times a milkman, a nightclub bouncer, and a basketball coach. If I locate the old USA Today article, I might have additional details.By Mary
November 21, 2006 3:48 PM | Link to this
Lou, a few years ago, I think I read in a USA Today article during the heat of the scandals that Ebbers was a former teacher or coach. I will try to locate a reference.By lou
November 21, 2006 2:27 PM | Link to this
Bernie Ebbers was not a teacher or a coach, he was a graduate of Meadowdale High School. Where did you hear he was a teacher?By Mary
November 21, 2006 11:26 AM | Link to this
Yes, MJ, and did you know Bernie Ebbers of Worldcom (I think now in prison) was a former teacher or coach. However, I am not sure why you ask. Have you ever been to suburbia? For one thing, not everyone in suburbia has good choices, support systems, etc. Gee, they are not all rich, either.By MJ
November 21, 2006 4:04 AM | Link to this
Mary: Suburbia has choices - all of them are good choices because of their quality of life expectations and support systems. P.S Mary, Can you say ENRON, WORLD COM and Ohio Charter Schools?By Mary
November 21, 2006 2:21 AM | Link to this
MJ, I meant to say by allowing charters in “only” “failed” districts, and yes, that was probably through successful lobbying or compromise to keep the choices from being widespread. Would I have considered a charter school or magnet school for gifted students for one or both of my children - yes. Services for gifted in public schools are not required even though identification is required. Even those schools that provide some services are not really adequate - i.e one day a week pullout programs, one gifted intervention specialist for hundreds of students in heterogenous or mixed ability classrooms, teachers not certified or trained in any way in gifted ed, teachers and administrators who do not understand the educational, social and emotional complications of gifted students who are academically years ahead of their age peers, etc. What are parents with unhappy and underchallenged students supposed to do? Simply say, I support public education. These types of issues do not only impact gifted students.By MJ
November 20, 2006 7:00 PM | Link to this
Mary, Do you mean successful or unsuccessful lobbying. The successful lobbying connections do not have charter schools.By Mary
November 20, 2006 3:17 PM | Link to this
MJ,I think there should be more choices in suburbia and rural areas for students as well as urban areas. I think the main rason the law allows charters to be in failed school districts is because of lobbying by educational associations.By MJ
November 20, 2006 12:57 PM | Link to this
Rick get your head out of the sand and do alittle research. If charter schools were so great for education you can bet that they would not be in the urban schools alone. There is a reason why they are not in Centerville, Oakwood or Kettering. Their citizens and legislators would not stand to have that failed program experiment with their children. Is it because urban children are predominately Black and poor that makes it is okay to experiment with them? Is it okay that their programs do not compare with what the suburban districts provide for their children? Moving to one underfunded educational program from another underfunded program is not a choice, especially when all of our children are required to take the same high-stakes tests. Those are not the choices that parents or children need. Last year the Ohio Department of Education was required to send $425 million to charter schools operators in and out of Ohio from an underfunded education budget. More than $110 million went to one charter school operator, David Brennen. He and other charter school operators in turn contributed millions to the Governor and those Senators and Representatives that you mentioned to push more charter schools regardless of their student success or financial accountability. The underfunding of Ohio’s public schools is not a new problem. Since 1997 the Ohio Supreme Court has declared that to be the case FOUR TIMES. And yes, Lou is correct. In the second Supreme Court ruling, (May 2000), the charter school program was said to have exasserbated the UDERFUNDED AND UNCONSTITUTIONALITY of the school funding methodology. Maybe you think that the court is wrong too.By Rick
November 19, 2006 1:05 PM | Link to this
Lou, Teachermom, MJ, no the charters were not a way to bust up the unions, but rather to give parents more choices and to break the monopoly of the regular public schools. Lou, no charter schools are not “stealing” the money of public schools. That money came from the taxpayers and the Senators and Representatives from Ohio decide how to distribute that money. If the public schools had been doing a good job there would be no charter schools. Before chartes schools came along, we still had busing and the School Administration was, to some extent, hostile to parents. In addition, for many students, especialy white students, the DPS were dangerous places.By Mary
November 19, 2006 12:53 PM | Link to this
Lou, I might be wrong, but I do not think all charter schools are chartered as “for profit”. I also am under the impression, MJ, that many urban schools get more money per student than many or most suburban and rural schools, and underfunding is not the issue. It could be more management of resources and poverty and cultural related. Lou, speaking of “for profit”, “tax exempt”, etc, public education institutions have an issue with that as well. In recent weeks, the US House Ways and Means Committee has been inquiring about the tax exempt status for the NCAA. As pointed out, multimillion dollar salaries are being paid to coaches at public intitutions and millions of dollars in revenue and expenses flow all under the guise of the education tax exempt not for profit umbrella.By lou
November 18, 2006 8:34 PM | Link to this
Mary, maybe the public schools would be better if we stop stealing their money to fund schools that have no accountability. Charter schools are suppose to be based on profit. Aren’t they? They should not recieve public funding. Lack of funding is what is killing our urban schools, and driving taxes up in the suburbs.By teachermom
November 18, 2006 7:08 PM | Link to this
Yes, I am getting my yearly return of students coming back from the charters too. I just want to pat them on the heads and tell them, “There, there, we weren’t so bad after all now were we ? ” I can tell you I am NOT losing children to charter schools but years ago I did and it was always the ones who had behavior problems and the parents just did not want to make the student mind or support the school system. Many of those students I was truly relieved to see go. There was no assistance from home and I am sure there still isn’t. I would hate for my child to sit next to those children to this day ! They were mouthy and very unruly. They can HAVE those students. To this day it is my belief that this is the number one reason that DPS has the hardest time keeping the students they have, because of safety. Students feel afraid sometimes, bullied. Some students take up too much of our time with their problems also so that instruction time is lost, and that is a shame for the others who are ready to learn. Our social workers and counselors were taken from us too. That is my comment for your BALDRIDGE CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEY that is only given to students and parents. But I guess I am not a customer, right ? Ask the teachers for their opinion sometime folks ! You might do better at keeping up your “business.” And yes, I agree with MJ who said it best that Charter Schools do nothing but try to bust unions. When they don’t, people bring in Business Approach School Reform Models that do exactly the same thing. But nobody is fooled on this end either, thank you! We see the parallels.By Mary
November 18, 2006 2:40 PM | Link to this
Caroline, the “too much shopping around” for education fits right into our culture. Schools have become the supercenter for a lot of services. It would probably be better if schools focussed more on academic services and the school day and less on other activities afterschool and on weekends. A teacher wrote a book about this several years ago. It is called “Schools that do too much”.By Caroline
November 18, 2006 10:59 AM | Link to this
Mary, Some students leave public schools for charter schools because they feel that they will receive a better education. However, some students leave because they don’t like that they receive a failing grade for doing no work, they are always getting in trouble and blame the teachers, they want to have less work, etc. We receive students back from charter schools when they get kicked out, when the charter school has to close because of problems, etc. I am not against all charter schools. I do believe that the state should have a better system of checks and balances. Right now, I get about two new students a week. Most of those students are coming from charter schools. Yes, I am also regularly losing students—to other districts, charter schools, and homeschooling. Right now, there is too much “shopping around.”By MJ
November 18, 2006 9:03 AM | Link to this
Ohio’s charter schools reflect the Enron system of education. As a result Ohio has the worst charter schools in the nation. They are primarialy funded off of the backs of underfunded urban schools. Their accountability system is like Enrons, smoke and mirrows. Ohio’s charter schools were not designed to help educate our children. They were designed to kill the unions, break up urban schools and to make it’s primary sponsors like William Bennett and David Brennen richer. Just like Tom Noe, they have made contributions in the millions to pro-charter legislators who by the way, happen to be the same legislators who fight against fair housing, minimum wages, adequate education funding and quality of life opportunities for the masses of Ohioans. Sounds like Enron to me. What do you think?By Mary
November 17, 2006 11:00 PM | Link to this
Lou, what you said makes no sense to me. One of the main arguments for charter schools is to take poorer minority studnets out of failing public schools and giving them a chance with a different program. Why do so many students voluntarily leave public schools if public schools are doing such a good job with “equality”, however you define equality? For many students, suburban schools are failing, too.By lou
November 17, 2006 10:12 PM | Link to this
Public schools are one of the greatest equaties this country has. Money that is going to charter schools and vouchers are taking money away, and destroying our schools. If DPS was not having to pay for so many students that did not attend the district schools, the students would have more. We need to build are public schools up.By Mary
November 17, 2006 1:45 PM | Link to this
You have to scroll past some other intersting New York Times topics, and then click, to locate his obituary. The way the obit was written, I did not realize how much I agreed with him on some things including the ties between personal freedoms, economics, choice, and government. I thought he was mainly a trickle down economics guy and was ever so sure about the trickling. However, I had noticed the Dayton Daily News buried his obit down quite a few pages while the OSU game was on the front pages. What are the priorities? It made me feel like I was in bubba country. Milton Friedmann has probably influenced our lives a lot more than a football game whether we realize it or not.