One month before I joined
Ron Paul’s Congressional staff in Washington, my article against school
vouchers was published in The Freeman (May 1976). That was a long time
ago.
My article was directed
against Professor Friedman’s chapter favoring school vouchers in his 1962 book,
Capitalism and Freedom.
School vouchers are a way
to let parents have some choice in where to send their children to school. The
local government issues vouchers to parents of school-age children. Local
schools can exchange vouchers for money from the government. If schools can
attract parents who will pay partial tuition in the form of vouchers, they can
make extra money. This, Friedman argued, would be good for parents and
children.
I argued that it would be
a disaster for the independence of private schools that joined the
voucher-redemption program. They would have to accept government regulation for
their curriculum programs and even teaching methods. After all, as Friedman
taught, there are no free lunches in life. The government cannot legally hand
out money willy-nilly. Recipients of government money must meet government
standards. This means control…..
