ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the Founders' and modern political theorists' conceptualizations of education as a public rather than a private good. It suggests ways in which market-based education as practiced by charter schools in Arizona could undermine the democratic polity. The status of education as a public good, secured some time ago, was not questioned until recently. Now, the presence of charter schools could radically alter the way some people—parents in particular—think about education. Institutional arrangements suggest ways of viewing education, and schooling provided through a system of charter schools has the trappings of a private good. In sum, the existence of charter schools could institutionalize education as a private good. Treating education as a public good means that all members of the community are legitimate stakeholders since "citizens have an important and common interest in educating future citizens".
