Chapter One

It is almost surrealistic that my colleagues and I have had to spend the past dozen years litigating to establish the basic legal premise that parents may exercise school choice. In a nation supposedly committed to free enterprise, consumer choice, and equal educational opportunities, school choice should be routine. That it is not demonstrates the clout and determination of those dedicated to preserving the government's monopoly over public education.

To listen to the education establishment, one would think that school choice is a scary, radical, alien concept. And indeed, the defenders of the status quo have managed to convince voters in initiative after initiative that school choice is a threat to public education.

And yet, school choice is not new. To the contrary, private schools, often using public funds, have played a key role in American education. Even today, America's post-secondary system of education-the world's envy-is characterized by widespread school choice. Students can use the G.I. Bill, Pell Grants, and other forms of government aid to attend either public or private schools, including religious institutions. Parents can use childcare vouchers in private and religious settings. Indeed, under federal law, tens of thousands of disabled children receive schooling in private schools at public expense. It is only mainstream K-12 schools in which the government commands a monopoly over public funds.

Thomas Paine, the most prescient of the founding fathers, is credited with first suggesting a voucher system in the United States. He was interested in promoting t