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Friedman And North on Vouchers

The link below is to an “old” article by Gary North. The article is from 1993, but the point is interesting and quite timely. Milton Friedman argues for school vouchers as a way for parents to retain control of their children’s education, while North argues that he who pays the piper still calls the tune. I have always agreed with Friedman when it comes to vouchers, but North’s point is well thought-out and well articulated.

Today there is debate about Federal funding of education and even some corporate training programs. The US government is spending way more than it takes in and many people, both politicians and members of the voting public, are arguing for cuts. Government programs always have strings. Some strings are reasonably neutral and some have wide impact. Many are in-between.

Currently, the US education is a separation between the those who are wealthy enough to afford private education for their children and those who are not. As long as the government is not funding or contributing to the funding of private schools, it cannot exert control (aside from making schooling mandatory, as Friedman points out, and that is a different matter). So those who attend government schools are educated to government standards; non-government schools are free to exceed those standards (what parent would send a child to a school that had lower standards than the government schools?). Even the US President sends his children to private schools — he clearly sees the value in a school that exceeds the government standards.

I attended a government school and my mother taught in government schools for most of her life. My parents even chose the house I grew up in because of the local school. There are good government schools. I have served on the board of a nationally-ranked (government) charter school. My parents exercised school choice through which house they bought. A charter school allows any parents to choose that school over their “assigned” school. Good schools are important to our society and parents need to be able to choose their child’s school, at least amongst government schools if they cannot afford private schools. Sadly, many do not have a great school to choose. So how do we raise the standards of government schools, or at least create an environment where every parent can choose a great school for his or her child?

So, back to training. What impact does government funding have on corporate training? Interestingly there are multiple providers for corporate training and companies or government agencies can choose virtually any provider (considering purchasing rules). Does government funding have impact on training in private companies receiving grants that fund that training? I’d love to hear what people think. Comment below.

The article from The Freeman Friedman And North on Vouchers.

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