Editing School voucher (section)

==History==
When France lost the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (1870–1871) many blamed the loss on its inferior military education system. Following this defeat, the French Assembly proposed a voucher that they hoped would improve schools by allowing students to seek out the best. This proposal never moved forward due to [[Secularism in France|the reluctance of the French to subsidize religious education]]. Despite its failure, this proposal closely resembles voucher systems proposed and used today in many countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Molnar |first=Alex |title=Vouchers, Class Size Reduction, and Student Achievement: Considering the Evidence |publisher=Phi Beta Kappa Educational Foundation |year=2000 |location=Bloomington}}</ref>

The oldest extant school voucher programs in the United States are the Town Tuitioning programs in Vermont<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vermont - Town Tuitioning Program |url=https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/vermont-town-tuitioning-program/ |access-date=2016-08-03 |language=en-US}}</ref> and Maine,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maine - Town Tuitioning Program |url=https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/programs/maine-town-tuitioning-program/ |access-date=2016-08-03 |language=en-US}}</ref> beginning in 1869<ref name="Vermont">{{Cite web |title=Friedman Foundation - Vermont: Town Tuitioning Program |url=http://www.friedmanfoundation.org/friedman/schoolchoice/ShowProgramItem.do?id=32}}</ref> and 1873<ref name="maine">{{Cite web |title=Friedman Foundation - Maine: Town Tuitioning Program |url=http://www.friedmanfoundation.org/friedman/schoolchoice/ShowProgramItem.do?id=23}}</ref> respectively. Because some towns in these states operate neither local high schools nor elementary schools, students in these towns "are eligible for a voucher to attend [either] public schools in other towns or non-religious private schools. In these cases, the 'sending' towns pay tuition directly to the 'receiving' schools".<ref name=Vermont/><ref name=maine/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Legislatures |first=National Conference of State |title=School Choice: Vouchers |url=http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/school-choice-vouchers.aspx |access-date=2017-01-23 |website=www.ncsl.org |language=en-US |archive-date=March 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305013550/http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/school-choice-vouchers.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A system of educational vouchers was introduced in the Netherlands in 1917. Today, more than 70% of pupils attend privately run but publicly funded schools, mostly split along denominational lines.<ref name="RDV 1997">{{Cite journal |last=Jozef M. M. Ritzen, Jan van Dommelen and Frans J. De Vijlder |date=June 1997 |title=School finance and school choice in the Netherlands |journal=Economics of Education Review |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=329–335 |doi=10.1016/S0272-7757(96)00078-7}}</ref>

[[Milton Friedman]] argued for the modern concept of vouchers in the 1950s,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Friedman |first=Milton |url=http://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/330T/350kPEEFriedmanRoleOfGovttable.pdf |title=Economics and the Public Interest |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=1955 |editor-last=Solo |editor-first=Robert A. |pages=123–144 |chapter=The Role of Government in Education |access-date=February 14, 2017}}</ref> stating that competition would improve schools, cost less and yield superior educational outcomes.  Friedman's reasoning in favor of vouchers gained additional attention in 1980 with the broadcast of his ten-part television series ''[[Free to Choose]]''<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.freetochoose.tv/broadcasts/ftc80.php |title=Free to Choose TV |type=Television |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |year=1980 |people=Milton Friedman}}</ref> and the publication of its companion book of the same name<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Friedman |first1=Milton |url=https://archive.org/details/freetochoosepers00frie |title=Free to Choose: A Personal Statement |last2=Friedman |first2=Rose |publisher=Harcourt Brace & Company |year=1980 |isbn=978-0156334600 |edition=1990 |url-access=registration}}</ref> (co-written with his wife [[Rose Friedman]], who was also an economist). Episode 6 of the series<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.freetochoose.tv/program.php?id=ftc1980_6&series=ftc80 |title=Free to Choose |type=Television |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |year=1980 |people=Milton Friedman |chapter=6. What's Wrong with Our Schools}}</ref> and chapter 6 of the book were both entitled "What's Wrong with Our Schools", and asserted that permitting parents and students to use vouchers to [[School choice|choose their schools]] would expand freedom of choice and produce more well-educated students.

In some Southern states during the 1960s, school vouchers were used as a way to perpetuate segregation. In a few instances, public schools were closed outright and vouchers were issued to parents. The vouchers, known as tuition grants, in many cases, were only good at new, private and segregated schools, known as [[segregation academies]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vergakis |first=Brock |date=June 4, 2007 |title=Deseret Morning News - Do vouchers equal segregation? |url=http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660226540,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070918215251/http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660226540,00.html |archive-date=September 18, 2007 |access-date=August 11, 2011 |publisher=Deseretnews.com}}</ref>