Description: Harry Brighouse provides a new theory of justice for education, arguing that justice requires that all children have a real opportunity to become autonomous persons, and that the state use a criterion of educational equality for deploying educational resources. Through systematic presentation of empirical evidence, Brighouse argues that existing schemes do not fare well against the criterion of social justice, yet this need not impugn school choice. He offers a school choice proposal that could implement social justice and explains why other essential educational reforms can be compatible with choice.
Review Quotes: "In an era when policy analysis is often fixated on empirical 'hard data' and evaluated in terms of cost-benefit payoffs, it is refreshing to read a book that tries to examine policy choices in terms of ideas and values... detailed, open-minded, and nondogmatic...[Brighouse] provides an excellent review of existing choice programs in Britain and the US and evaluates specific alternative proposals...[his] book is immensely useful in clarifying the value bases of public policy in education and will force readers to examine and ultimately refine their own assumptions about school choice."--Choice