Educating Citizens International Perspectives on Civic Values and School Choice

by Wolf, Patrick J.; Macedo, Stephen; Ferrero, David J.; Venegoni, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780815795162
• ISBN10: 0815795165
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-30
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Summary

The United States is in the midst of historic experiments with publicly funded choice in K-12 education, experiments that recently received a "green light" from the Supreme Court. Other nations have long experience with the funding and regulation of nonpublic schools, including religious schools. This book asks what U.S. policymakers, public officials, and citizens can learn from these experiences. In particular, how do other countries regulate or structure publicly funded educational choice with an eye toward civic values --looking not only for improvements in test scores, but also in tolerance, civic cohesion, and democratic values such as integration across the lines of class, religion, and race? The experience of Europe and Canada with school choice is both extensive and varied. In England and Wales, public school choice is widespread, as parents play a significant role in selecting the school their children will attend. In the Netherlands and much of Belgium, a majority of students attend religious schools at government expense. In Canada, France, and Germany, state-financed school choice is limited to circumstances that serve particular social and governmental needs. In Italy, school choice has just recently arrived on the policy agenda. In spite of the diversity of national experiences, in all of these countries choice is regulated by the government in significant and varied ways to promote civic values. In several of these countries, school choice policy itself appears to have played an important role in promoting social cohesion and integration. This book presents a wealth of experience designed to aid policymakers and citizens as they consider historic changes in American public education policy.

Author Biography

David E. Campbell: University of Notre Dame Jan De Groof: College of Europe, Belgium Anne Bert Dijkstra University of Groningen, The Netherlands Jaap Dronkers European University Institute, Italy David J. Ferrero: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation William Galston University of Maryland Richard W. Garnett University of Notre Dame Charles L. Glenn: Boston University Stephen Gorard: University of York, United Kingdom Neville Harris: University of Manchester, United Kingdom Sjoerd Karsten: University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Stephen Macedo: Princeton University Denis Meuret University of Burgundy, France Lutz R. Reuter: Bundeswehr University of Hamburg, Germany Luisa Ribolzi: University of Genoa, Italy Charles Venegoni: Civitas Schools, Chicago B. P. Vermeulen: Vrije University, The Netherlands John F. Witte: University of Wisconsin, Madison Patrick J. Wolf: Georgetown University

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
1 Introduction: School Choice, Civic Values, and Problems of Policy Comparison	1	(30)
Stephen Macedo and Patrick J. Wolf
Part 1: Country Case Studies
2 Regulating School Choice to Promote Civic Values: Constitutional and Political Issues in the Netherlands	31	(36)
Ben P. Vermeulen
3 Private Schools as Public Provision for Education: School Choice and Market Forces in the Netherlands	67	(24)
Anne Bert Dijkstra, Jaap Dronkers, and Sjoerd Karsten
4 Regulation, Choice, and Basic Values in Education in England and Wales: A Legal Perspective	91	(40)
Neville Harris
5 School Choice Policies and Social Integration: The Experience of England and Wales	131	(26)
Stephen Gorard
6 Regulating School Choice in Belgium's Flemish Community	157	(30)
Jan De Groof
7 The Civic Implications of Canada's Education System	187	(26)
David E. Campbell
8 School Choice and Civic Values in Germany	213	(25)
Lutz R. Reuter
9 School Choice and Its Regulation in France	238	(30)
Denis Meuret
10 Italy: The Impossible Choice	268	(19)
Luisa Ribolzi
11 Do Public and Religious Schools Really Differ? Assessing the European Evidence	287	(28)
Jaap Dronkers
Part 2: Analysis and Commentary
12 Civic Republicanism, Political Pluralism, and the Regulation of Private Schools	315	(9)
William Galston
13 Regulatory Strings and Religious Freedom: Requiring Private Schools to Promote Public Values	324	(15)
Richard W. Garnett
14 School Choice as a Question of Design	339	(16)
Charles L. Glenn
15 Regulation in Public and Private Schools in the United States	355	(13)
John F. Witte
16 A Regulated Market Model: Considering School Choice in the Netherlands as a Model for the United States	368	(15)
Charles Venegoni and David J. Ferrero
Contributors	383	(2)
Index	385