ABSTRACT
In the United States, massive obstructions block the path of parental freedom and mastery in education. This chapter recognizes that American school choice proposals are a very motley collection of efforts rightly reflecting substantial differences among the fifty different political jurisdictions out of which they evolve. The charter school movement has considerable momentum in the United States. As of this writing, nineteen states have enacted charter legislation, and several others are on the brink. The normally vast financial advantage of educational financial monopoly is neutralized in legislative matters to some degree by limitations on pressure group expenditures. As American experience and the experience of nations with true choice make abundantly clear, much of the parental motivation to choose alternate schools is religious and ethical. Within a true choice system-where parents select schools, including religiously based schools, without financial penalty-charter schools would have the same rightful potential as any other educational offering.
