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This work makes a richly humanitarian case for parental school choice, seeking to advance social justice and respect the dignity of parents—especially those on the margins.
For decades, arguments in favor of school choice have largely been advanced on the basis of utility or outcome rather than social justice and human dignity. The Case for Parental Choice: God, Family, and Educational Liberty offers a compelling and humanitarian alternative. This volume contains an edited collection of essays by John E. Coons, a visionary legal scholar and ardent supporter of what is perhaps best described as a social justice case for parental school choice. Few have written more prodigiously or prophetically about the need to give parents—particularly poor parents—power over their children’s schooling. Coons has been an advocate of school choice for over sixty years, and indeed remains one of the most articulate proponents of a case for school choice that promotes both low-income parents and civic engagement, as opposed to mere efficiency or achievement. His is a distinctively Catholic voice that brings powerful normative arguments to debates that far too often get bogged down in disputes about cost savings and test scores.
The essays collected herein treat a wide variety of topics, including the relationship between school choice and individual autonomy; the implications of American educational policy for social justice, equality, and community; the impact of public schooling on low-income families; and the religious implications of school choice. Together, these pieces make for a wide-ranging and morally compelling case for parental choice in children’s schooling.
"Those looking for a better way to resolve differences, to transcend partisan narratives, and to promote a robust and pluralistic school system that engenders greater trust would be wise to consult Coons’s extensive scholarship. The Case for Parental Choice makes an elegant and accessible reintroduction to his work." —City Journal
“Few, if any, scholars possess more insights about parental school choice than John Coons. Beyond the philosophical, legal, and moral concerns surrounding choice, which Coons analyzes cogently, he also draws upon common-sense practicalities to cinch his many compelling arguments.” —Patrick J. Wolf, co-author of The School Choice Journey
"This is a rich collection drawn from a long and productive career, with much to offer even those readers for whom parental choice of schools is not a primary concern." —Journal of Law and Religion
"Coons’s prescient essays read with as much relevance as ever." —Journal of Church and State
"This volume will be of particular interest to educators, theologians, legal scholars, and policy advocates concerned with the intersection of education, religious freedom, and democratic citizenship. It is especially valuable for those exploring the moral underpinnings of school reform beyond technocratic or partisan divides. Coons’s voice is both prophetic and pragmatic, reminding us that liberty in education cannot be a privilege of the few, but a right shared by all." —International Journal of Christianity & Education
John E. Coons is the Robert L. Bridges Professor of Law (Emeritus) at Berkeley Law, University of California, Berkeley.
Nicole Stelle Garnett is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at the Law School, University of Notre Dame.
Richard W. Garnett is the Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Corporation Professor of Law, concurrent professor of political science, and the director of the Program on Church, State, and Society at the Law School, University of Notre Dame.
Ernest Morrell is the Coyle Professor in Literary Education, professor of English, professor of Africana studies, and director of the Notre Dame Center for Literary Education at the University of Notre Dame.
Foreword by the Editors
Foreword by Jesse Choper
Preface by John E. Coons
Part 1. Religion, Liberty, and Education
1. Intellectual Liberty and the Schools
2. Making Schools Public
3. School Choice as Simple Justice
4. Education: Intimations of a Populist Rescue
5. Orphans of the Enlightenment: Belief and the Academy
Part 2. Education and Community
6. Can Education Create Community?
7. Education: Nature, Nurture, and Gnosis
8. Magna Charter
Part 3. Religion, Family, and Schools
9. Luck, Obedience, and the Vocation of the Childhood
10. The Religious Rights of Children
11. The Sovereign Parent
Conclusion: Exit, with Spirit
Appendix
Soldiers and School Choice
It Takes a Village? No, When It Comes to Schooling, It Takes Parents
Public Schools and the Bingo Curriculum
School Choice Restores Parental Responsibility
MLK and God’s Schools
Faith, School Choice, and Moral Foundations
Of Civics and “Sects”: Debunking Another School Choice Myth
Fear of Words Unspoken
Equality, “Created Equality,” and the Case for School Choice
A Tale of Two Turkeys
On Teaching Human Equality
School, Such a Trip
Bibliographical Essay