A School Choice Salute

HAN Members Contribute to the Cause

By Bob Freedman

Isaiah Berlin wrote that education has "as its purpose . . . the development of the power of free judgment and choice." It is inconceivable that this power can be developed in an educational system—like ours—that rejects choice from the first day of kindergarten through the last day of high school. As we approach February 20th, the day that the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments to decide the constitutionality of the Cleveland school choice program, it’s time to thank the many Human Action Network members who have battled to defend school choice in legislatures, courtrooms, and the court of public opinion.

Several members have organized forums for school choice advocates. Seth Leibsohn of Empower America has helped arrange speaking opportunities for IJ attorneys and others. Bob Levy and David Salisbury of the Cato Institute have set up debates on school choice and arranged public presentations by school choice researchers. The tireless efforts of Brandon Lynaugh of the Buckeye Institute have kept school choice and other educational reform issues before the state legislature and the people of Ohio.

We offer a special thanks to all of the HAN member attorneys who helped author amicus briefs supporting the Cleveland program—Mike Dean for Vermonters for Better Education, Edwin Meese and John Eastman for the Claremont Institute, Richard Epstein for the Association of Christian Schools International, and all of the other supporters who made possible the filing of a remarkable 28 amicus briefs defending school choice.

The culmination of our work in the court of public opinion will be a national rally in front of the Supreme Court on the day of oral argument. Bridgett Wagner of the Heritage Foundation, Kevin Teasley of Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation, Chester Finn of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, and Mike Watson of Children First America are all committed to making the rally a success.

Finally, as we all know, this is no time for complacency. After the argument and after a decision is issued, we will have much more work to do. We will need the help of these and more HAN members to ensure that the children of Cleveland and the whole country receive the kind of education that Isaiah Berlin envisioned.

Bob Freedman is an Institute for Justice staff attorney.