The School Choice Wars. (Book Reviews).School choice could significantly change the face of American education. However, in The School Choice Wars, John Merrifield, a fellow at the Educational Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., and economics professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio The main campus is situated on 600 acres (2.4 km²,) at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Loop 1604 near the northern edge of San Antonio, Texas in Bexar County. The university is also one of the UT System's fastest growing schools, maintaining a 12. , tells us this will occur only if parental choice is offered without the restrictions that accompany the experiments currently in place. Merrifield believes the current model of education constitutes a virtual government monopoly In economics, government monopoly (or public monopoly) is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law. that stifles the reforms needed to improve schooling for all children because the lack of competition results in higher costs and increased inefficiencies. The only hope, he contends, is for education to become a competitive industry where schools will either improve to compete for students or perish TO PERISH. To come to an end; to cease to be; to die. 2. What has never existed cannot be said to have perished. 3. When two or more persons die by the same accident, as a shipwreck, no presumption arises that one perished before the . For this to occur, there would have to be no significant barriers for education producers and parents would be free to move without significant costs. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , there would be no difference in government funding to support the public and private schools. In addition, the number of parents willing to transfer their children must be large enough to have an effect on the school's ability to remain financially viable. In Merrifield's model, schools are free to charge what they wish for tuition. He reasons this will increase the number of school providers to a point where services become more available, causing costs to drop and forcing inefficient providers out of business. Lastly, schools must be free of unnecessary regulations so they can specialize spe·cial·ize v. 1. To limit one's profession to a particular specialty or subject area for study, research, or treatment. 2. To adapt to a particular function or environment. to attract and better serve the needs and desires of students and their families. Merrifield takes a dim view of public education, stating that even the best American schools are not good enough. He attacks the "fallacies This is a list of fallacies. Formal fallacies Formal fallacies are arguments that are fallacious due to an error in their form or technical structure.
The book, citing up-to-date research, would be a valuable resource to administrators regardless of where they stand on the issue of school choice. (The School Choice Wars by John Merrifield, Scarecrow Scarecrow goes to Wizard of Oz to get brains. [Am. Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz] See : Ignorance Scarecrow can’t live up to his name. [Am. Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Am. Press, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham Md. 20706, 2001, 219 pp. with index, $45 hardcover) |
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