School Choice and Human Good

John Coons is a progressive Berkeley law professor emeritus who in 1978 published a seminal book on the need for private school choice in the United States for children of lesser means. His motivation was and is straightforward. Families of greater means have always chosen their children’s schools, whether by moving to preferred neighborhoods or paying private tuitions. Coons says we can’t with good conscience continue to rob poor children of similar opportunities, children who often have the greatest educational needs. This book represents the ongoing observations of Coons, now 92 years of age, as he has written in brief essays published on an education blog in Florida – a state with an extraordinary degree of K-12 learning options. In a political arena that has been polarized on the issue of educational choice, Coons is a reminder that Democratic progressives were among the earliest to see value in expanding the educational universe of disadvantaged schoolchildren.