EdChoice

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."School-choice charity fund aimed at the needy" Toronto Star Feb 13, 2003t Page A.29 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604103923/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/421050611.html?dids=421050611:421050611&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+13,+2003&author=&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=School-choice+charity+fund+aimed+at+the+needy&pqatl=google link] Indiana politician and friend of the Friedmans, Gordon St. Angelo, served as the foundation's first president, a position he held until 2009, when he was succeeded by Robert Enlow.{{cite press release |title=St. Angelo to become President Emeritus of Friedman Foundation; Board names Enlow successor |date=December 10, 2008 |publisher=Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice |location=Indianapolis, IN |url=http://www.edchoice.org/Newsroom/News/St--Angelo-to-become-President-Emeritus-of-Friedman-Foundation---Board-names-Enlow-successor.aspx |access-date=2013-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714145618/http://www.edchoice.org/Newsroom/News/St--Angelo-to-become-President-Emeritus-of-Friedman-Foundation---Board-names-Enlow-successor.aspx |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |url-status=dead }} Other notable founding directors of the foundation include J. Patrick Rooney and Mitch Daniels.{{cite web|url=http://www.edchoice.org/About-Us/Board-of-Directors.aspx|title=Board of Directors|website=The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice|access-date=July 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806043639/http://www.edchoice.org/About-Us/Board-of-Directors.aspx|archive-date=August 6, 2013|url-status=dead}}

In 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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} The Friedman Foundation announced that its 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.

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.edchoice.org/The-Friedmans/The-Friedmans-on-School-Choice/The-Role-of-Government-in-Education-(1995).aspx|title=The Role of Government in Education|year=1955}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=33913|title=Friedman Foundation Calls for Tax Credits to Benefit K–12 Education|date=February 10, 2009|work=Inside Indiana Business|access-date=12 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511122302/http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=33913|archive-date=11 May 2009|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/rally-to-unite-public-310078.html|title=Rally to unite public, private groups that back vouchers|last=Dodd |first=D. Aileen |date=February 17, 2010|work= The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |access-date=12 April 2010}}

The organization's work is state-focused, with an emphasis on legislation and judicial matters related to school choice. EdChoice also conducts educational and advocacy work on school choice legislation in states, including Alaska,{{cite news|url=http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/tom-fink-alaska-should-approve-school-choice-legislation | title=Alaska should approve school choice legislation|first=Tom|last=Fink|date=November 5, 2011|newspaper=Alaska Dispatch|access-date=July 3, 2013}} Indiana,{{cite news|url=http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=33913|title=Friedman Foundation Calls for Tax Credits to Benefit K-12 Education|date=February 10, 2009|work=INside Indiana Business|access-date=July 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511122302/http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=33913|archive-date=May 11, 2009|url-status=dead}} Montana,{{cite news|url=http://helenair.com/news/legislature/who-s-behind-montana-s-school-choice-movement/article_0b204b88-8f8d-11e2-b63a-0019bb2963f4.html | title=Who's behind Montana's school-choice movement?|first=Mike|last=Dennison|date=March 17, 2013|newspaper=Independent Record|access-date=July 3, 2013}} New Hampshire,{{cite news|url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120515/NEWS06/705169993 | title=National school voucher group makes push in Concord|first=Ted|last=Siefer|date=May 15, 2012|newspaper=New Hampshire Union Leader|access-date=July 3, 2013}} North Carolina,{{cite news|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/30/2860931/paul-stam-school-choice-vouchers.html | title=School choice, vouchers popular|first=Paul|last=Stam|date=April 30, 2013 |newspaper=The News & Observer|access-date=July 3, 2013}} and Tennessee.{{cite news|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jun/23/robert-enlow-and-justin-owen-tennessee-families/ | title=Tennessee families should be allowed school choice options|author=Robert Enlow|author2=Justin Owen|date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=Knoxville News Sentinel|access-date=July 3, 2013}}

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.{{cite journal|url=http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/ohiosc.pdf|title=Brief of Amici Curiae Center for Individual Freedom, Cato Institute, Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, and Goldwater Institute in Support of Petitioners|date=November 9, 2001|publisher=The Cato Institute|format=PDF}} The Supreme Court in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris concluded Cleveland's school voucher program did not violate the First Amendment's Establishment 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.{{cite journal|url=http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/03261301bd.pdf|title=Indiana Supreme Court, No. 49S00-1203-PL-172|date=March 26, 2013|publisher=Indiana Supreme Court|format=PDF}} In responding to the court's decision, then-Indiana Governor Mike Pence credited the Friedman Foundation for its work in ensuring the program's continuation.{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjpqAIBL75g|title=AFC Policy Summit - Indiana Gov. Mike Pence|date=May 20, 2013|publisher=The American Federation for Children}}

[[File:Education by State and Type.webp|thumb|240px|{{center|Education by State and Type}}

{{legend|#FFD274|Private school|outline=#222222}}

{{legend|#43B932|Private EdChoice|outline=#222222}}

{{legend|#949393|Magnet school|outline=#222222}}

{{legend|#68C7FE|Public charter school|outline=#222222}}

{{legend|#FF462F|Homeschool|outline=#222222}}

{{legend|#D5D6D5|Public school|outline=#222222}}

]]

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"{{cite journal|url=http://www.edchoice.org/Research/Reports/The-School-Staffing-Surge--Decades-of-Employment-Growth-in-Americas-Public-Schools.aspx|title=The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America's Public Schools|date=October 24, 2012|first=Benjamin|last=Scafidi|publisher=The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice}} and "A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice".{{cite journal|url=http://www.edchoice.org/Research/Reports/A-Win-Win-Solution--The-Empirical-Evidence-on-School-Choice.aspx|title=A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice|date=April 17, 2013|author=Forster Ph.D., Greg|publisher=The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice}}

EdChoice also releases annually "The ABCs of School Choice", a guide to every private school choice program in America. The guide 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.{{cite journal|url=http://www.edchoice.org/Foundation-Services/Publications/2013-ABCs-of-School-Choice.aspx|title=The ABCs of School Choice|year=2013|publisher=The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice|access-date=2013-04-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508063152/http://www.edchoice.org/Foundation-Services/Publications/2013-ABCs-of-School-Choice.aspx|archive-date=2013-05-08|url-status=dead}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://www.edchoice.org/}}
• [http://nccsweb.urban.org/communityplatform/nccs/organization/profile/id/351978359/popup/1 Organizational Profile] – National Center for Charitable Statistics (Urban Institute)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:EdChoice}}

Category:Education policy organizations in the United States

Category:Organizations established in 1996

Category:1996 establishments in Indiana

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Indianapolis