An opinion piece by TC’s Henry Levin on the U.S. News & World Report “Best Countries” website argues that universal school choice advocated by Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s nominee for U.S. education secretary, hasn’t improved student performance in schools around the world where it has been implemented. DeVos is on record as favoring government vouchers that can be used to pay for private schools. But school choice systems in other countries have led to “the systematic separation of students by ethnicity, social class and religion,” writes Levin, the William H. Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education. 

“Universal school choice will undermine a shared experience and further exacerbate conflict and social division,” Levin writes. “The challenge for education is to find forms of choice that ensure exposure of all students to the experiences they need for democratic participation.”

To read Levin's piece, go here.

Published Tuesday, Jan 31, 2017