Advocates of school vouchers and other choice proposals couch their arguments in the fashionable language of economic theory. Choice initiatives at all levels of government have succeeded, it is claimed, because they shift responsibility for education reform from government to market forces. This timely book disputes the appropriateness of the market metaphor as a guide to education policy.
Jeffrey R. Henig is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Washington Area Studies at George Washington University. His other books include Public Policy and Federalism: Issues in State and Local Politics.
"For anyone interested in a full treatment of [choice], Henig's Rethinking School Choice is an absolute must. Exhaustive, comprehensive, and balanced, Henig's book sets the standard, for style as well as context, against which others will be measured."—Gerald Bracey, The Washington Post
"A tightly argued effort to reduce the crisis mentality about American education and suggest that shopping for schools is not the same as shopping for VCRs. . . . An intricate but fair-minded discussion that ultimately—while for choice—comes down against market-based vouchers."—Kirkus Reviews
"This book makes a forceful, tough-minded contribution to the raging debate over school choice. But it goes well beyond this debate, and refocuses the way we look at education."—John F. Witte, University of Wisconsin-Madison, co-editor of, Choice and Control in American Education
"This book makes a forceful, tough-minded contribution to the raging debate over school choice. But it goes well beyond this debate, and refocuses the way we look at education."—John F. Witte,University of Wisconsin-Madison