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# Neal McCluskey 

Former Director, Center for Educational Freedom

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Neal McCluskey was the director of Cato’s [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom). He is the author of two books, [*The Fractured Schoolhouse: Reexamining Education for a Free, Equal, and Harmonious Society*](https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/fractured-schoolhouse-9781475864250/) and [*Feds in the Classroom: How Big Government Corrupts, Cripples, and Compromises American Education*](https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/feds-in-the-classroom-9780742548596/). He is coeditor of several volumes, including [*Fighting for the Freedom to Learn: Examining America’s Centuries-Old School Choice Movement*](https://www.cato.org/books/fighting-freedom-learn) and [*School Choice Myths: Setting the Record Straight on Education Freedom*](https://www.cato.org/books/school-choice-myths). McCluskey also maintained Cato’s [Public Schooling Battle Map](https://www.cato.org/education-fight-map), an interactive database of values and identity‐​based conflicts in public schools.

Prior to arriving at Cato, McCluskey was a policy analyst at the Center for Education Reform, taught high-school English, covered municipal government and education as a freelance reporter, and served in the U.S. Army.

McCluskey holds an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, where he double majored in government and English, has a master’s degree in political science from Rutgers University, Newark, and holds a PhD in public policy from George Mason University.

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##### Featured Book 

[![fightingforfreedom-bookcover](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2025-11/fightingforfreedom-bookcover.jpg?itok=ohxuIyjY)](https://www.cato.org/books/fighting-freedom-learn) 

### [*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.

With contributions from 12 leading education scholars, this is a sweeping history of school choice in the United States. From Pennsylvania’s 1802 policy funding poor families to attend schools of their choice, to 19th-century “town tuitioning” programs in Vermont and Maine, to the post-COVID school choice explosion, Americans have long supported publicly backed educational options beyond government-run schools. Other highlights include the vital role of private initiatives in providing education to black Americans denied access to public schools, the long legal campaign for educational freedom, and more.

This book makes clear that wanting school choice is not a recent or radical idea but a consistent thread in the American story. For educators, policymakers, historians, and parents, *Fighting for the Freedom* to Learn offers a powerful reminder: Educational freedom, like liberty itself, is not a new trend—it’s a founding principle.

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

##### School Choice Timeline 

School choice may seem like a new idea. But as the timeline shows, empowering families to choose has a long history, both as an idea and in practice.

[View the Timeline](https://www.cato.org/school-choice-timeline) 

##### Public Schooling Battle Map 

Americans are diverse – ethnically, religiously, ideologically – but all must pay for public schools. The intention is good: to bring people together and foster social harmony. But rather than build bridges, public schooling often forces people into wrenching conflict. This map aggregates a relatively small, but especially painful, subset of such battles: those pitting educational effectiveness, basic rights, moral values, or individual identities against each other.

[View Map](https://www.cato.org/public-schooling-battle-map)