Education, chapter in Routledge Handbook on Classical Liberalism

Abstract

This chapter contends that classical liberal reform of K–12 and higher education would restore liberty and efficacy to all participants. It discusses the pros and cons of public and private provision of K–12 education. It describes the movement from highly local control to increased centralization. The article discusses how the organizational format of K–12 education came about historically, with particular emphasis on the influence of millennialism and its secular successor Progressivism. It shows that Progressivism in educational policy was also influenced by the example of Prussia. The chapter describes teacher-union power and discusses in particular the cases of African American education and Catholic schools. It examines the classical liberal K–12 reforms of pluralism, demonopolization, and parental choice.

Section 3 lays out higher education’s array of subsidies and its poor incentive structure. The government is quite often inserted between colleges and students. As with K–12 education, the chapter discusses how the institutional organization of higher education came about historically. It relates what classical liberals have said about professorial tenure. It portrays the increasingly illiberal milieu in institutions of higher learning. The section proposes removing direct subsidies and relying mainly on student tuition payments.