EdChoice, formerly the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, is an American

education reform Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, t ...

organization headquartered in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. It was founded in 1996 by economist spouses Milton and Rose D. Friedman. The organization's mission is to advance "school choice for all children" nationwide. EdChoice has been called "the nation's leading advocate of vouchers" by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. EdChoice, according to its website, works with "nonprofits, schools, community organizations, businesses, parents, teachers, and concerned citizens to provide general education, outreach, and advocacy on school choice".

History

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice was founded in March 1996 in

, Indiana. It originally was known as the Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation. Indiana politician and friend of the Friedmans, Gordon St. Angelo, served as the foundation's first president, a position he held until 2009, when he was succeeded by Robert Enlow. Other notable founding directors of the foundation include

J. Patrick Rooney John Patrick Rooney (December 13, 1927 – September 15, 2008) was the chairman and founder of the Fairness Foundation, whose goal is to help low-income Americans with education and health care. He is the father of Medical Savings Accounts, now ...

and

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been pr ...

. In 2016 the Friedman Foundation announced it would change its name later in the year to reflect the Friedmans' desire to separate their personal legacy from the intellectual legacy of educational choice. They specifically directed the Foundation's board of directors to stop using the Friedman name at some point after their deaths. The Friedman Foundation announced that its new name would be EdChoice and that it would focus its mission on three areas: educating and informing the public about the benefits of school choice; training and equipping policymakers and stakeholders with the skills they need to support school choice; and advancing high-quality school choice programs in states across the nation.

School choice

In 1955, Milton Friedman put forth an idea of using

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

principles to improve the United States public school system. Typically, public schools are funded by state and local taxes, and children are assigned a public school based on where their parents live. Friedman proposed that parents should be able to receive those education funds in the form of

vouchers A voucher is a bond of the redeemable transaction type which is worth a certain monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include housing, travel, and food vouchers. The term voucher is also a ...

, which would allow them to choose their children's schools, including both public and private, religious and non-religious options. The Foundation follows in Friedman's view and is focused on the creation and expansion of school choice programs, either through vouchers, tax-based incentive programs, or education savings accounts.

Policy influence

The organization's work is state-focused, with an emphasis on legislation and judicial matters related to

school choice School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools. The most common in the United States, by both the number of programs and by the number of participating students are scho ...

. EdChoice also conducts educational and advocacy work on school choice legislation in states, including

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

. The Friedman Foundation was involved with the U.S. Supreme Courts' landmark decision on

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

's private school choice program in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

, filing an

amicus brief An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...

along with the Center for Individual Freedom,

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...

, and Goldwater Institute in support of the petitioners. The Supreme Court in

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris ''Zelman v. Simmons-Harris'', 536 U.S. 639 (2002), was a 5–4 decision of the United States Supreme Court that upheld an Ohio program that used school vouchers. The Court decided that the program did not violate the Establishment Clause of the Fi ...

concluded Cleveland's

school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

program did not violate the First Amendment's

Establishment Clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...

. In 2013, the Friedman Foundation was credited with influencing the Indiana Supreme Court's unanimous ruling that the nation's largest school voucher program was constitutional. The Friedman Foundation was cited in the official ruling. In responding to the court's decision, then-Indiana Governor

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

credited the Friedman Foundation for its work in ensuring the program's continuation.

Research and publications

EdChoice produces numerous state and national policy studies, research briefs, and voter surveys. Its reports include "The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America's Public Schools" and "A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice". EdChoice also releases annually "The ABCs of School Choice", a guide to every private school choice program in America. The guide provides a summary of each voucher, tax-credit scholarship, education savings account, and individual tax credit/deduction program in operation. This publication details each program's funding levels, eligibility requirements, historic participation rates, stories of enrolled students, parents, and schools, and "Friedman Feedback" on how to "improve" according to Milton and Rose D. Friedman's vision.

References

External links

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Organizational Profile
–

National Center for Charitable Statistics The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops sta ...

(

Urban Institute The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:EdChoice Education policy organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1996 1996 establishments in Indiana Non-profit organizations based in Indianapolis