ABSTRACT
Th at it is necessary in a book about school choice to include a chapter on constitutional issues is perverse. Aft er all, the United States is a nation doctrinally committed to parental hegemony and educational opportunity, and school choice advances both of those core values. But challenges to school choice programs too seldom recourse to fi rst principles, in large part because the plaintiff s principally frame the terms of the debate. And litigation is a powerful weapon for those who are dedicated to defending the status quo, regardless of the human cost. So, every battle over school choice involves at least two parts: the legislative fracas, in which legions of lobbyists seek to defeat school choice at any one of the myriad squelch-points in the democratic process; and then the legal challenge, which now rivals death and taxes in both its certainty and annoyance whenever a school choice program is passed.
