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...