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When parents can

schools sat in groups where at least one out

of commerce--rather than public schooling--in

of every five students immediately around

bringing diverse peoples together. To see this, it

choose schools

them was from a different racial group, while

is useful to compare the approximate length of

that share

in the public schools only 49.7 percent of stu-

time it took various ethnic groups to integrate

dents were so integrated.52

their moral,

into American society. Michael Barone did this

in The New Americans, and found that the Irish,

Perhaps the final--and for many parents

pedagogical, and

who came from largely peasant stock that had

and students, most important--advantage of

other beliefs,

little experience with economic entrepreneuri-

private over state-run schooling comes in the

alism, took nearly 120 years to become fully

form of academic success. When parents can

education is more

integrated in American society. Jews and Asians,

choose schools that share their moral, peda-

effective.

by contrast, who much more often came from

gogical, and other beliefs, education is more

merchant and artisan classes, were able to

effective because schools can quickly and effi-

achieve economic and social integration in a

ciently teach coherent lessons rather than

matter of eight decades or less.48

having to struggle to accommodate different

children, values, and so forth. It's a reality

The importance of freedom to democracy

that has been demonstrated well in Chile,

goes beyond social and economic integration,

which has relatively extensive school choice.

however. Freedom's importance is, in fact, vis-

There, researcher Claudio Sapelli found that

ible in civic education itself, where we find that

students in private schools outpaced the per-

students in private schools demonstrate both

formance of their counterparts at municipal

greater civic knowledge and greater tolerance

schools even after accounting for socioeco-

for others than public school students. As

nomic variables and so-called "peer effects"

Notre Dame political scientist David E.

(the tendency for a child's performance to

Campbell found after controlling for variables

improve simply as a result of attending

such as race, family income, and academic per-

schools with better-off students, rather than

formance, only 48 percent of nonmagnet pub-

as a result of the schools themselves).53

lic school students participate in community

service, compared with 52 percent of students

in secular private schools, 57 percent in non-

School Choice: The Only Solution

Catholic religious schools, and 59 percent in

Given the dubious value and divisive social

Catholic schools.49 He found similar differ-

effects of state-run schooling, it seems logical

that democratic values--and academic excel-

ences in students' political knowledge, though

lence--would best be served by an education

the disparities were only statistically signifi-

system that maximizes freedom. School

cant between Catholic school students and

choice--in which the public ensures that all

non-magnet public school children, with the

children can get an education, but parents

former exhibiting appreciably greater political

knowledge than the latter.50 Finally--and per-

select the schools--fits that bill. Supporters of

the status quo frequently contend, however,

haps most surprisingly--Campbell found that

that letting people choose their own schools

students in Catholic and private schools were

would lead to serious social divisions, a result

more tolerant of inflammatory political

commonly known as "Balkanization."

expression--even anti-religious expression--

than were public school students.51

The specter of Balkanization was most

famously applied to education in a dissent-

In addition to creating better democratic

ing opinion in a 2002 Supreme Court deci-

citizens, private schools tend to be better

sion that declared a choice program in Ohio

racially integrated, a fact demonstrated best

constitutional. Justice John Paul Stevens

in school lunchrooms, where students exhib-

wrote in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris:

it truly voluntary integration. In a 1998 study

of such integration, Jay Greene and Nicole

The Court's decision is profoundly

Mellow found that 63.5 percent of students

misguided. . . . I have been influenced

in lunchrooms at randomly selected private

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