May 21, 2008 8:52AM # The “Fundamental” Problem By [Andrew J. Coulson](https://www.cato.org/people/andrew-coulson) --- SHARE Goldwater Institute VP Matt Ladner offered [his thoughts ](http://jaypgreene.com/2008/05/20/carey-vs-coulson/)today on an exchange between the Ed Sector’s [Kevin Carey ](http://www.quickanded.com/2008/05/cato-renounces-school-vouchers.html)and [myself](https://www.cato.org/2008/05/19/i-knew-we-should-have-used-the-cone-of-silence/). In the process of defending Cato, Matt suggested that: “The Cato Institute can be accused of being fundamentally opposed to public schooling. I’d guess that they would happily plead guilty to that.…” As I explained in my reply to Kevin, Cato doesn’t take positions, only its scholars do. So, am *I* “fundamentally opposed to public schooling” as Matt imagines? No. I’m not *fundamentally* opposed to, or in favor of, any policy. I do my best to rationally derive policy recommendations by examining the best and broadest possible array of relevant evidence. That means studying school systems from ancient times to the present, from all over the world, and determining if some systems consistently work well or poorly regardless of variations in cultural and economic circumstances. I recommend a free market approach to education, coupled with [need based financial assistance ](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8812)to ensure universal access, because that is [the pattern ](https://www.cato.org/research/education/marketresearch_coulson.html)that emerges from the evidence. Policy scholars who find these conclusions inconsistent with their beliefs might wish to familiarize themselves with the historical and international evidence so that they can form conclusions of their own and offer informed commentary on mine. I’m sure we would all benefit from that process, as would American children. ##### Related Tags [Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).