The Right To Choose: Public School Choice and the Future of American Education. Education Policy Paper Number 2.

In 1988 and early 1989, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research sponsored a series of forums in New York and London focusing on an important new aspect of educational reform: the concept of parental choice. This article is drawn from the presentations made at these forums and is divided into four sections. In "The Problem," Chester Finn offers a stark appraisal of the state of American education in the wake of 6 years of educational "reform." The second section, "The Theory," offers a two-part overview of the implications of recent research findings on the educational choice movement and its rationale. In "What Makes Schools Work?" John Chubb discusses a Brookings Institution study of 500 American public and private high schools, and James Coleman, in "What Makes Religious School Different?" discusses his research on the effectiveness of Catholic high schools. The third section, "The Solution," discusses how educational choice has been implemented in Minnesota and New York City. Finally, the fourth section, "A Dialogue on Choice," contains excerpts from the question-and-answer sessions that followed the various presentations in New York and London. (18 references) (SI)