The Father of Modern School Reform

Fifty years ago, Milton Friedman introduced the idea of school vouchers. Now he looks back on his legacy.

Nick Gillespie from the December 2005 issue

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Friedman: But about 30 percent of young people never graduate from high school. Moreover, if you look at the colleges that graduates go to, they differ enormously in quality. Many are close to glorified high schools.

Reason: What explains the ability of the U.S. economy to still be productive if we have poorly educated high school graduates?

Friedman: Part of the reason is immigration, especially skilled immigration. And while our government is much too big, we haven't gone as far down the wrong path as many other countries. More fundamentally, a small fraction of well-educated citizens can have a disproportionate influence on the productivity of the society as a whole. The victims of our defective educational system are not the well-educated but the poorly educated.

Reason: You're optimistic that real change is upon us. In a recent piece for your foundation, you and Rose write: "The pace is picking up. In 1995, Ohio introduced a voucher program in Cleveland--the first such program since Wisconsin adopted a limited program for Milwaukee in 1991. In 1999, Florida enacted an educational reform that included a pilot statewide voucher program for students in failing schools. In the past decade, Minnesota, Illinois, and several other states have enacted refundable tax credits that promote parental choice. Privately financed scholarship programs have flowered from the seed...in Indianapolis in 1991, and this list is by no means complete. Change is now occurring so fast that it is hard to keep up with it. The [teachers unions'] dam is buckling and will shortly break. The resulting flood will bring life-giving innovation and change to elementary and secondary education."

Yet out of about 45 million kids in K�12 schools, there are less than 1 million kids in charter schools and around 20,000 kids with some form of vouchers. In percentage terms, there are fewer children in private schools now than there were 20 years ago. So what underwrites your optimism that vouchers or other reforms are about to sledgehammer the status quo?

Friedman: I remain optimistic for several reasons. One, there is increasing dissatisfaction with the schools on the part of parents. Two, there is widening interest in and support of greater parental choice. Third, some 20 states or more have various kinds of voucher-type proposals under consideration. Part of my optimism comes from a belief that vouchers seem like such an obvious solution--and from my belief that the basis of the National Education Association's and the American Federation of Teachers' power is crumbling.

What are the bases of the teachers unions' power? There are two. One, they have managed to persuade the intellectuals that being against vouchers is part of the basic Democratic Party mantra. By using their money and large membership, the unions have gotten control of the Democratic Party platform; a considerable fraction of the party's presidential delegates, for instance, come from the teachers unions.

The Democratic Party should be the natural supporter of vouchers. In Ted Kennedy's words, the Democrats are supposed to be the "voice of the voiceless." The voiceless would benefit the most from full-scale universal vouchers. You know, if you ask the voiceless, they are all in favor of vouchers. So I think, sooner or later, the nearly religious support for the anti-voucher position will crumble.

The other reason the teachers unions will crumble is the teachers themselves. Against the odds, the unions have been able to persuade teachers that universal vouchers would hurt them. On the contrary, teachers would be among the main beneficiaries. We know that in government schools not much more than half of the money spent goes to the classroom. Almost half goes to administrators, bureaucrats, and the like. In private schools, a much larger fraction goes to the classroom. In addition, we know that working conditions are much more attractive in private schools. Despite lower average wages, the turnover rate [among teachers] is much lower in private schools than it is in government schools.

Reason: Can you describe the goal of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation?

Friedman: It's to increase the public's understanding and awareness of the need for parental choice as a way to reform the system of education. It's not a research foundation; it acts as clearinghouse for information. It's been doing very well: We have the financial support of a growing number of people, and we're reaching a widening group of people through newspaper mentions and that sort of thing. More important, the president of the foundation, Gordon St. Angelo, has been very active in all of the states that are moving in the direction of greater parental choice.

Reason: In an interview with Reason a decade ago, you said that the role you played in ending the military draft--you were on a presidential commission that recommended an all-volunteer army--was your proudest accomplishment when it came to public policy. If you succeed with universal vouchers and systemic education reform, where would that rank for you?

Friedman: It would rank first.�