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In Honor of Milton Friedman, ‘Father of School Choice’
By ANDY LEFEVRE, For The Bulletin
On Fri., July 31, groups of people gathered all across the nation to celebrate what would have been the 97th birthday of Dr. Milton Friedman. In Harrisburg, the REACH Foundation and the Commonwealth Foundation hosted a happy hour to celebrate Dr. Friedman’s legacy for liberty.
Dr. Friedman passed away in November 2006 and was regarded as one of the world’s most powerful and influential promoters of freedom. He argued that the voluntary choices of individuals, not the dictates of the state, should be the default mode of human life; government is justified only as it preserves, protects and defends people's liberty. His revolutionary work in economic theory earned him the Nobel Prize in 1976.
A tireless worker for the ideas of free markets and limited government, Dr. Friedman first proposed the idea of government educational monies following the child in 1955 in an essay, “On the Role of Government in Education” published in the book Economics and Public Interest. In his essay, Friedman argued that vouchers that follow the child would improve education by promoting competition between schools.
It took nearly 35 years for Dr. Friedman’s revolutionary idea to be put into practice with the passage of Milwaukee’s landmark school voucher program. Since then, his common sense solution to our nation’s educational dilemma has been taking hold all across our nation. Today, there are 22 school choice programs in 14 states helping approximately 190,000 students attend private schools through voucher and tax credit scholarships.
Since 1991, REACH –Road to Educational Achievement through Choice – has been educating our elected officials, the media and the public on the benefits that school choice can bring to Pennsylvania’s children. REACH represents individuals, business, religious, civic, taxpayer and non-profit organizations committed to educational achievement through choice.
In 1996, Dr. Friedman and his wife Rose created Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice to educate the public on the benefits and needs for universal school choice. Their work has helped to shape and guide our movement as we enter a new century where concerns over global competitiveness have made the need to reform our educational system even more pressing. In addition, we in Pennsylvania owe Dr. Friedman a personal debt of gratitude as his organization has been a tireless and effective partner of our efforts to promote school choice across the Commonwealth.
In 2001, Pennsylvania became the first state in the nation to enact an educational tax credit program aimed at corporations. Since then, the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program has been a vital resource to Pennsylvania children and families. This groundbreaking program has done what many advocates have been trying to accomplish for years -- get the business community more directly involved in education. Through the EITC Program, businesses can donate to help children in their local communities by taking a tax credit of up to 90 percent (for a two year commitment) for contributions made to qualified scholarship, educational improvement, and pre-K scholarship organizations.
Due to overwhelming demand and popularity, the legislature has increased the cap on the EITC Program four times since its enactment in 2001- with a current total cap of $75 million. Annually, $44.7 million is appropriated for scholarship organizations, $8 million for pre-K scholarship organizations and $22.3 million for educational improvement organizations.
Since the EITC’s enactment eight years ago, over 3,600 businesses have donated over $430 million to approved EITC and Pre-K EITC organizations. During the 2008-09 school year, the EITC Program provided over 44,000 scholarships to students all across the Commonwealth to attend a school that is best fitting their individual educational needs.
The EITC Program has been a truly model public-private partnership that has brought new thinking and innovation to Pennsylvania’s school system and allowed tens of thousands of children to attend a school that best meets their individual needs. Since 2001, Florida, Arizona, Iowa, Rhode Island, Georgia, and Indiana have all passed corporate tax credit programs.
Few individuals have done more to advance civil and economic liberties throughout the world during their lifetime than Dr. Milton Friedman. Our movement and our country should pause each year to give thanks for the legacy of this truly visionary man. REACH is committed to continuing his work and to expanding his legacy – that every parent will be free to choose a school that best meets their child’s individual needs.
Dr. Friedman passed away in November 2006 and was regarded as one of the world’s most powerful and influential promoters of freedom. He argued that the voluntary choices of individuals, not the dictates of the state, should be the default mode of human life; government is justified only as it preserves, protects and defends people's liberty. His revolutionary work in economic theory earned him the Nobel Prize in 1976.
A tireless worker for the ideas of free markets and limited government, Dr. Friedman first proposed the idea of government educational monies following the child in 1955 in an essay, “On the Role of Government in Education” published in the book Economics and Public Interest. In his essay, Friedman argued that vouchers that follow the child would improve education by promoting competition between schools.
It took nearly 35 years for Dr. Friedman’s revolutionary idea to be put into practice with the passage of Milwaukee’s landmark school voucher program. Since then, his common sense solution to our nation’s educational dilemma has been taking hold all across our nation. Today, there are 22 school choice programs in 14 states helping approximately 190,000 students attend private schools through voucher and tax credit scholarships.
Since 1991, REACH –Road to Educational Achievement through Choice – has been educating our elected officials, the media and the public on the benefits that school choice can bring to Pennsylvania’s children. REACH represents individuals, business, religious, civic, taxpayer and non-profit organizations committed to educational achievement through choice.
In 1996, Dr. Friedman and his wife Rose created Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice to educate the public on the benefits and needs for universal school choice. Their work has helped to shape and guide our movement as we enter a new century where concerns over global competitiveness have made the need to reform our educational system even more pressing. In addition, we in Pennsylvania owe Dr. Friedman a personal debt of gratitude as his organization has been a tireless and effective partner of our efforts to promote school choice across the Commonwealth.
In 2001, Pennsylvania became the first state in the nation to enact an educational tax credit program aimed at corporations. Since then, the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program has been a vital resource to Pennsylvania children and families. This groundbreaking program has done what many advocates have been trying to accomplish for years -- get the business community more directly involved in education. Through the EITC Program, businesses can donate to help children in their local communities by taking a tax credit of up to 90 percent (for a two year commitment) for contributions made to qualified scholarship, educational improvement, and pre-K scholarship organizations.
Due to overwhelming demand and popularity, the legislature has increased the cap on the EITC Program four times since its enactment in 2001- with a current total cap of $75 million. Annually, $44.7 million is appropriated for scholarship organizations, $8 million for pre-K scholarship organizations and $22.3 million for educational improvement organizations.
Since the EITC’s enactment eight years ago, over 3,600 businesses have donated over $430 million to approved EITC and Pre-K EITC organizations. During the 2008-09 school year, the EITC Program provided over 44,000 scholarships to students all across the Commonwealth to attend a school that is best fitting their individual educational needs.
The EITC Program has been a truly model public-private partnership that has brought new thinking and innovation to Pennsylvania’s school system and allowed tens of thousands of children to attend a school that best meets their individual needs. Since 2001, Florida, Arizona, Iowa, Rhode Island, Georgia, and Indiana have all passed corporate tax credit programs.
Few individuals have done more to advance civil and economic liberties throughout the world during their lifetime than Dr. Milton Friedman. Our movement and our country should pause each year to give thanks for the legacy of this truly visionary man. REACH is committed to continuing his work and to expanding his legacy – that every parent will be free to choose a school that best meets their child’s individual needs.
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RealityBites wrote on Aug 5, 2009 12:22 PM:
Indonesia, Chile, Russia, South Africa etc not a single success. Lots of repression, torture, murder and greed by a few but no success for the majority.
His beliefs insured the success of the biggest thieves and criminals not the common man.
His thoughts on education were naive to say the least. Expecting that education for profit is going to improve the system, wow that's stunning ignorance! The voucher system for schools has been a complete failure everywhere it's been tried. Look at New Orleans for example. "