by Edwin G. West

     "Contrary to popular belief, the supply of schooling in Britain between 1800 and 1840 was relatively substantial prior to any government intervention, although it depended almost completely on private funds. At this time, moreover, the largest contributors to education revenues were working parents and the second largest was the Church."
     "This essay will... enquire to what extent the altruism of typical parents extended to education as well as to other necessities before governments intervened." --From the article

Market Education:
The Unknown History

Andrew J. Coulson (Transaction Publishers, February 1999)

     Market Education is the culmination of five years of full-time research on a single question: What sort of school systems best fulfill the public's educational goals--at both the individual and the societal level? It is perhaps the most comprehensive investigation of school governance ever undertaken, comparing educational systems from all over the world and from ancient times to the present. To find out more about this book, click here.

Choice in Schooling:
A Case for Tuition Vouchers
(Loyola University Press, 1990)

by David W. Kirkpatrick

    This book provides a unique history of the idea that public funding for education is better directed to individual families than to monolithic state school systems. It chronicles the evolution of the tuition voucher concept from Adam Smith, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson in the 18th century, through John Stuart Mill in the 19th, to modern advocates such as economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman. The period from 1955 to the present receives special attention.
    Choice in Schooling is a particularly good source on the Alum Rock experiment of the 1970s, which foreshadowed the political turmoil that has surrounded vouchers in the 80s and 90s.

Markets Versus Monopolies in Education:
The Historical Evidence

by: Andrew J. Coulson

     The theoretical arguments about how competition and the profit motive might affect schooling are largely unnecessary. Competitive educational markets have already been tried in numerous places and times throughout history. This article gathers together some of the most fascinating and compelling historical precedents.

Forgotten Lessons:
The Historical Case for a Free Educational Market

by: Andrew J. Coulson

     The transcript of a talk given at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government during the Conference on Rethinking School Governance (June 12th-13th, 1997). It provides a very concise overview of the evidence, and suggests a five-point explanation for the historical superiority of educational markets over government-run school systems.