Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2000
Publication Information
4 Tex. Rev. L. & Pol. 301 (1999-2000)
Abstract
This Article is intended to be a primer on the legality and morality of educational choice—"School Choice in a Nutshell," if you will. We are resigned to being pre-empted by the tireless work of grassroots activists, the choices of voters, and the decisions of judges. Still, we hope, in somewhat polemical fashion, to establish two basic claims. First, school choice, properly understood, is constitutional. And second, school choice is both sensible and just.
In the end, we believe "school choice . . . is essential to achieving equality of opportunity for American children, rich or poor. School choice treats the poor as citizens of equal dignity; it promotes the independence upon which constitutional government depends; and it empowers parents to transmit their values to their children." It is educational choice, not government monopoly, that best resonates with America's constitutional ideals, its cultural diversity and commitment to pluralism, and its tradition of religious freedom. It is choice, not monopoly, that "promise[s] to invigorate public life, create more capable citizens, bring together the races, and make good on the Constitution's promises."
Recommended Citation
Nicole S. Garnett & Richard W. Garnett,
School Choice, the First Amendment, and Social Justice,
4 Tex. Rev. L. & Pol. 301 (1999-2000).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/528
