Date of Award

Spring 2000

Document Type

Dissertation - Restricted

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Augenstein, John

Second Advisor

Cepelka, Angeline

Third Advisor

Mortimore, Camille

Abstract

Many hopes and fears for American education can be traced to the term school choice. If school choice as advanced by its many proponents today becomes fact, some public school educators express fear for the end of public schools' hold on tax dollars and too much marketplace competition in public school systems. Opponents of school choice assert that the Bush Administration tried to reinstate government aid to sectarian schools and tear down the wall of separation between church and state. These opponents associate school choice with "privatization of public education, aid to religious schools, and racial segregation." Proponents hail school choice as a means of desegregating schools, revitalizing schools and improving school effectiveness, increasing public satisfaction with schools, empowering educators, and placing the decision and direction of a child's education squarely into the hands of parents. These proponents focus on vouchers and tuition tax credits as a means of promoting school choice. Parents would be given vouchers, that is, government-funded credits, to be spent at the school they choose for their children, or parents of private school students would be given tax credits for tuition paid at these schools...

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