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# *Fighting for the Freedom to Learn: Examining America’s Centuries-Old School Choice Movement*

Published By Cato Institute • 2025 

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Date and Time 

December 9, 2025 12 - 1 PM EST 

Location 

Live Online 

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##### Featuring 

![James Shuls portrait](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-11/james-shuls-circle.jpeg?itok=9-SXaZcU) 

James Shuls 

Head, Education Liberty Branch, Institute for Governance and Civics, Florida State University

[ 

](https://twitter.com/shulsie) 

[![Neal McCluskey Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-11/mccluskey-cropped.jpg?itok=I-QI0yJD)](/people/neal-mccluskey) 

[Neal McCluskey](/people/neal-mccluskey)

Former Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute

![Ethan Hutt](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-11/ethan-hutt-circle.jpeg?itok=wW7wWvuZ) 

Ethan Hutt 

Associate Professor, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

[ 

](https://twitter.com/ehutt1) 

The school choice movement is often seen as a modern, partisan undermining of a cherished institution: public education. *Fighting for the Freedom to Learn* shows that the struggle for educational freedom is not new but an enduring part of US history. It is rooted in traditions of parents and communities shaping how children learn and perpetual struggles for people without political power to get the education they believe they need.

Join us to discuss this important new book!

![Book cover: Fighting for the Freedom to Learn: Examining the Nation’s Centuries-Old School Choice Movement](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2025-11/Fighting%20For%20The%20Freedom%20To%20Learn-Front%20Cover.jpg?itok=VO9S4Vjv) 

##### Featured Book 

### *[Fighting for the Freedom to Learn](https://www.cato.org/books/fighting-freedom-learn)*

The school choice movement is often seen as a modern, partisan undermining of a cherished institution: public education. *Fighting for the Freedom to Learn* sets the record straight, revealing that the struggle for educational freedom is as old as America itself and rooted in a deep and enduring tradition of parents and communities shaping how children learn.

[Purchase Book](https://www.cato.org/books/fighting-freedom-learn) 

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