News Release

October 8, 2003

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Tradition of Educational Freedom Remains Strong
Supporters are winning legal battles, but must continue fight on public policy front

WASHINGTON, D.C.--More than 80 percent of American school children currently attend public schools, a sign of the ascendance of public education in the United States. Alongside this tradition of public education stands an even older tradition -- that of educational freedom, in which schools can be voluntarily chosen by parents. These two traditions are in conflict as supporters of educational freedom fight for alternatives to state-controlled systems, according to a new Cato Institute study.

"For most of our nation's history, control over education was entirely decentralized, and educational institutions were voluntary, cooperative efforts involving parents, teachers, students, and charitable organizations or local governments," write Marie Gryphon and Emily A. Meyer, both with the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom.

The public system of education began to crowd out private alternatives in the years before the Civil War. As Gryphon and Meyer note, this transition was largely motivated by an anti-Catholic bias. It also brought with it an increasingly protected and self-interested education bureaucracy.

The public system's assault on educational freedom peaked in the early 20th century, as legislatures banned foreign language instruction and required attendance at public schools. Gryphon and Meyer argue that the Supreme Court rightly struck down these restrictions, protecting parents' liberty and intellectual freedom.

With school choice initiatives gaining in popularity, their advocates are frequently finding themselves in court once again. In a historic decision, the Court upheld Cleveland's voucher program. The ruling was a victory for school choice, but the authors of the Cato study note that obstacles posed by individual states' constitutions and regulations that would stifle emerging private schools still remain.

Furthermore, winning in the courts is only one step on the road to freeing America's schools. "Supporters of educational freedom must not win legal battles while losing the public policy war," write Gryphon and Meyer. They cite increased choice, religious neutrality, freedom for private schools, and protection of home schooling as further goals to be achieved. They conclude that "by working to empower parents with more choices and to afford schools more autonomy, those advocates may hope for a day when all families can fully enjoy the benefits of educational freedom."