EdChoice, formerly the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, is an American education reform organization headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was founded in 1996 by Nobel laureateMilton Friedman and economist Rose Director Friedman, who were married. The organization's mission is to advance “school choice for all children” nationwide. Called “the nation's leading advocate of vouchers” by the Wall Street Journal, the organization's 13-member board is chaired by Patrick M. Byrne, chairman and CEO of Overstock.com. EdChoice, according to its website, works with “nonprofits, schools, community organizations, businesses, parents, teachers, and concerned citizens to provide general education, outreach, and advocacy on school choice.”
History
The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice was founded in March 1996 in Indianapolis, Indiana. It originally was known as the Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation. A prominent Indiana politician and friend of the Friedmans, Gordon St. Angelo, served as the Friedman Foundation's first president, a position he held until 2009, when he was succeeded by Robert Enlow. Other founding directors of the Friedman Foundation include J. Patrick Rooney and Mitch Daniels. On May 10, 2016, the Friedman Foundation announced it would change its name later in the year to reflect the Friedmans' desire to separate their personal legacy from the intellectual legacy of educational choice. They specifically directed the Foundation's board of directors to stop using the Friedman name at some point after their deaths. On July 29, 2016, the Friedman Foundation announced that the organization's new name would be EdChoice and that it would focus its mission on three areas: educating and informing the public about the benefits of school choice; training and equipping policymakers and stakeholders with the skills they need to support school choice; and advancing high-quality school choice programs in states across the nation.
School choice
In 1955, Milton Friedman put forth an idea of using free market principles to improve the United States public school system. Typically, public schools are funded by state and local taxes, and children are assigned a public school based on where their parents live. Friedman proposed that parents should be able to receive those education funds in the form of vouchers, which would allow them to choose their children's schools, including both public and private, religious and non-religious options. The Foundation follows in Friedman's view and is focused on the creation and expansion of school choice programs, either through vouchers, tax-based incentive programs, or education savings accounts.
Policy influence
The organization's work is state-focused, with an emphasis on legislation and judicial matters related to school choice. The Friedman Foundation was involved with the U.S. Supreme Courts’ landmark decision on Ohio’s private school choice program in Cleveland, filing an amicus brief along with the Center for Individual Freedom, Cato Institute, and Goldwater Institute in support of the petitioners. The Supreme Court in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris concluded Cleveland’s school voucher program did not violate the First Amendment’sEstablishment Clause. In 2013, the Friedman Foundation was credited with influencing the Indiana Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling that the nation’s largest school voucher program was constitutional. The Friedman Foundation was cited in the official ruling. In responding to the court’s decision, Indiana Governor Mike Pence credited the Friedman Foundation for its work in ensuring the program’s continuation. EdChoice also conducts educational and advocacy work on school choice legislation in states, including Alaska , Indiana , Montana , New Hampshire , North Carolina , and Tennessee.
Research and publications
EdChoice produces numerous state and national policy studies, research briefs, and voter surveys. Its reports include “The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America’s Public Schools” and “A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice.” Friedman Foundation studies typically are conducted by its research Fellows. EdChoice also releases annually “The ABCs of School Choice,” a guide to every private school choice program in America. “The ABCs of School Choice” provides a summary of each voucher, tax-credit scholarship, education savings account, and individual tax credit/deduction program in operation. This publication details each program's funding levels, eligibility requirements, historic participation rates, stories of enrolled students, parents, and schools, and “Friedman Feedback” on how to “improve” according to Milton and Rose D. Friedman's vision.
Funding
EdChoice is a 501 organization with an annual operating budget of around $4.5 million. According to the organization's 2012 annual report, 35% of its donations came from special giving, 28% from grants, 20% from personal appeals, 9% from web, events, and publications, 7% from renewal mail and annual gifts, and 1% from direct mail. The Friedman Foundation was not endowed by its founders.
