Abstract: A survey of parents in three Scottish regions has provided data on the motivations and characteristics of those who exercise their right under the Education (Scotland) Act 1981 to request that their child attend a school other than that to which he or she would normally be allocated. We explore here the characteristics of those parents who make a placing request for their child at entry to P1 and examine the explanations which they offer both for rejecting the district school and for selecting the chosen alternative. Attention is focused also on the sources of information on which parents depend during the decision‐making process. In the areas under scrutiny it was found that far from conforming to any stereotypes according to socio‐economic or political variables, those who make placing requests represent a wide cross‐section of the community, with only a small number of trends discernible across the three populations. Indeed it appears that the most interesting level of analysis is by individua...

Abstract: Debates about the choices families should have in deciding how their children should be educated have a long history in the United States. These debates have generated more heat than light, however, in part because insufficient attention has been paid to the goals of American education, the mechanisms through which more choice would promote or inhibit achievement of these goals, and the evidence from the many existing experiments in family choice. This article attempts to inform the choice debate by exploring the merits and limitations of expanding family choice in public education. It has three themes. First, we need to understand how family choice affects the students who use it and those who do not, and we especially need to understand how family choice affects teachers, the targets of much angry rhetoric in the choice debates. Second, we must be aware that there are no panacea proposals for family choice; every plan is characterized by significant tensions among competing objectives. Third, no discussion of proposals for family choice can be meaningful or useful unless it specifies the critical details of the regulations that define the systems. This article complements Michael Krashinsky’s article in this issue in the following sense. Krashinsky analyzes why government may want to “make education” rather than “buy education.” He emphasizes the difficulties government would face in assuring that the education provided by private-sector schools satisfies social objectives. Krashinsky’s analysis does not consider how government should “make education.” This article explores one aspect of this issue. In particular, it explores whether greater family choice among public school alternatives can improve the quality of education provided to

Abstract: Private schools in Ontario receive no direct public subsidy, but there are several arguments that they should. The commissioner who examined these arguments and their consequences suggested that the financial cost of funding private schools should not decide policy (Ontario could afford the extra cost) but rather social justice reasons, especially the parents' right to decide on the kind of education. Arguments for special groups should be balanced against social cohesion. The constitutional argument might imply that discrimination exists unless private schools are partly funded. The commissioner concluded that at least minimum standards should be maintained for all private schools, and suggested how society and parents could be sure of this.

Abstract: As black students move into private schools at greater rates, a number of questions are raised. To what extent and under what conditions is a private school education better than a public school education for black students? What are the social and educational benefits and costs of being educated in a largely white environment? And what will be the benefits and costs as private schools themselves become increasingly black? Are the economic sacrifices made by black families to send their children to private school worth it to the individual child—to the black community?

Abstract: about 1980 the issues surrounding public school finance remained the same. They were fiscal in nature, and included spending inequalities related to differences in school district property wealth per pupil, technicalities related to various state equalization formulas, funding structures that recognized higher costs for special student populations and, in some instances, state/local tax levels and burdens by income class. The major concern was how equitably to finance education in general. Stimulated largely by legal action mandating change, school finance reform with respect to these issues became a top legislative priority in nearly all states in the 1970s. Since the beginning of the education reform movement, however, the issues related to public school finance have expanded rapidly and now include not only the financing of education in general but also the financing of numerous specific components of the education enterprise in local schools and districts. The new concern is how to finance education to improve its quality. As a result, the focus of school finance research needs to expand in order to provide the substantive underpinnings for this new policy interest. This article discusses a series of new research directions for

Abstract: Private schools and their supporters still receive differential treatment in Canada. The disadvantage they suffer differs from province to province although, as a whole, the region west of Ontario treats them more favourably than does any other. Such disadvantage is accompanied by the dominant viewpoint that parents sending or wishing to send their children to private schools do not deserve government assistance. The need for public education has been perceived to be so compelling that nothing is seen to be wrong in penalizing parents, financially or otherwise, for choosing private schools for their children. Examination of entitlement to human rights can contribute to developing a more sympathetic view of the funding of private schools. Equality or justice, a fundamental human rights principle, requires that everyone be treated fairly or in a non-discriminating way and that any institution or person practising differential treatment prove relevant and over-riding grounds. This leads to the conclusion that acceptance of human rights principles in Canada imposes a prima facie obligation on government to support private-school parents no less than it does their public-school counterparts. This does not mean that the right to equal support may not be over-ridden. It does imply, however, that discriminatory presumptions underlying governmental policy on funding of private schools must now be reversed unless compelling reasons are demonstrated.

Abstract: private lives we have a smorgasbord of choices We can choose among 100 breakfast cereals, 200 makes of automobiles, 300 different religious denominations Thus it is ironic that in this land of choice there is so little choice within the public school system The Task Force on Par ent Involvement and Choice believes that public education cannot, as it is cur rently structured, deal effectively with the nation's diversity and its demand for compulsory education Despite the national efforts to reform education, we worry that the US is creating solutions to the wrong prob lems We fear that states are working for more of the same without taking a good hard look at the system itself On the surface, we seem to have responded with energy, enthusiasm, and money to a crisis in education But we hope that in 10 years the nation does not look back and find that we kicked up a lot of dust and then settled for business as usual We propose something in the great American tradition: to increase excellence by increasing choice Today, the public schools control both the production and the consump tion of education The system tells stu dents what they will learn and at what speed and quality Students and their parents have little to say about these matters A more responsive system would incorporate both what students and their parents say they need and the

Abstract: School reform in Minnesota has not featured A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) prescriptions, comprehensive legislation, or massive infusions of new money. State policy enactments since 1983 have consisted mostly of improvement initiatives in such areas as educational technology, school effectiveness, early childhood programs, and mastery learning. Much reliance has been placed on demonstration sites and inducements for district cooperation. On balance, the state's approach has been modest in scope, homegrown in origin, and local in orientation (Krupey, 1985; Mazzoni & Sullivan, 1986). Incremental reform has not been without its critics in Minnesota.

Abstract: AUTHOR Lawton, Stephen B. TITLE Public, Private and Separate Schools in Ontario: Developing a New Social Contract for Education? PUB DATE Apr 86 NOTE 32p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (67th, San Francisco, CA, April 16-20, 1986). PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150) -Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) -Historical Materials (060)

Abstract: Because contemporary society accepts inequalities in income and social privilege, its tolerance for the varied and divergent educational consumption of its citizens is understandable. However, the acceptance of a dual educational system by parents, local authorities, and governments has implications for government involvement and educational finance. Any shift of pupils from the public to the private school sector will generate fewer dollars per pupil for public education, with associated repercussions for staffing and programming. This paper examines the "riffling" effect within a publicly supported dual school system in Canada and in Australia in relation to (1) financial assistance; (2) enrollment shifts; (3) staffing patterns; and (4) programmatic considerations. Recently .here has been a mounting provision of support to both public and private school sectors and an enrollment shift favoring private schools in both countries. Regarding staffing patterns, Canada has shown an increase in private school teacher employment and a decrease in public school teacher employment, while Australia's teaching population has steadily risen in both sectors, but with a sharper rate of increase in the private sector. Programmatic and ideological elements are linked to three factors (funding sources, funding stability, and established spending patterns) and raise many unresolved questions. The support of both public and private school systems from the diminishing pool of funds potentially moves both systems toward mere survival. The apparently healthy compromise between parental choice and government responsibility may further disperse available educational resources. Appended are 2 tables and 11 references. (MLH) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** REFLECTIONS ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR MIVATE SCHOOLS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Imprmiament EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTE (ERIC) is document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent offmal OERI position or policy.

Abstract: What does the future hold for school reform? Four issues should be of particular interest to educators as the focus of states' roles in education during the next few years.