Better Education For Michigan Citizens PDF Download

This primer explains school choice, historically reviewing the origins and growth of tax-funded schools nationwide and how they became synonymous with public education. It examines the rise of government-funded and operated schools in Michigan through the efforts of Isaac Crary and John Pierce and describes the negative effects of a 1970 state constitutional amendment that severely restricts parents' ability to exercise school choice. The primer demonstrates the failure of many past and present education reforms, including ever-increasing funding, to significantly improve the quality of government education, and it explains different types of school choice (including intra- and inter-district choice, charter schools, tuition vouchers, and tax credits). Finally, it evaluates the progress of school choice programs available nationwide; identifies individuals and organizations who support, oppose, or are ambivalent to greater school choice in Michigan; and outlines strategic plans that parents and other concerned citizens can follow to get involved in efforts to improve education through greater school choice. Appendixes include a glossary, a sample illustration of how to advocate for school choice with letters to the editor of local newspapers, and a list of where to go for more information on this and other education issues. (Contains 175 endnotes.) (SM)