Public vs. Private: The Early History of School Choice in America

Americans choose from a dizzying array of schools, loosely categorized as "public" and "private." How did these distinctions emerge, and what do they tell us about the relationship in the United States between public authority and private enterprise? Challenged by the rise of Catholic and other parochial schools in the nineteenth century, states sought to protect the public school monopoly through regulation. Ultimately, however, Robert N. Gross shows how the public policies that resulted produced a stable educational marketplace, where choice flourished.

Robert N. Gross is Assistant Principal for Academic Affairs at Sidwell Friends School. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where his research and teaching focused on the educational and legal history of the United States.

Introduction: Private Schools and Public Regulation in American History
Chapter One: Public Monopoly
Chapter Two: Competing Schools
Chapter Three: Educational Regulation
Chapter Four: Public Policy and Private Schools
Chapter Five: Creating the Educational Marketplace
Chapter Six: Fighting the Educational Monopoly
Epilogue: Public Problems and Private Education in the Post-World War II Era
Notes
Bibliography
Index