Description: Americans choose from a dizzying array of schools, loosely categorized as "public" and "private." How did these distinctions emerge, and what do they tell us about the relationship in the United States between public authority and private enterprise? Challenged by the rise of Catholic and other parochial schools in the nineteenth century, states sought to protect the public school monopoly through regulation. Ultimately, however, Robert N. Gross shows how the public policies that resulted produced a stable educational marketplace, where choice flourished.
Review Quotes: "The general outlines of Gross's story are well known to education historians, but Gross brings a new perspective that offers valuable insights." -- Adam Laats, History of Education
"Public vs. Private makes a nuanced and meticulously researched contribution to the study of the emergence of the Catholic school system in the United States and the origins of the contemporary parental choice debate in education." -- Susan B. Reynolds, American Catholic Studies "Gross's account of the politics of choice is authoritative for the time period (roughly from 1840 to 1925) he covers."--Paul E. Peterson, Education Next