Product Code Database
EdChoice, formerly the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, is an American education reform organization headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was founded in 1996 by economist spouses Milton Friedman 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. 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".
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.
The Friedman Foundation was involved with the U.S. Supreme Courts' landmark decision on Ohio's private school choice program in Cleveland, filing an amicus brief along with the Center for Individual Freedom, Cato Institute, and Goldwater Institute in support of the petitioners. The Supreme Court in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris concluded Cleveland's school voucher program did not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
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 credited the Friedman Foundation for its work in ensuring the program's continuation.
]] 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.
|
|
