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School Voucher Programs

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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

School choice; School privatization

Introduction

School voucher proposals gained traction in the late 1980s as part of a broader movement to privatize services previously delivered by government through its employees. Unlike the privatization program undertaken by Margaret Thatcher in England, in which public enterprises were sold off to the private sector, relieving government of further responsibility for their operation, in the United States, privatization referred to the practice of contracting out delivery of government’s programmatic responsibilities to for-profit or nonprofit third-party surrogates. Enthusiasm for this method of public service delivery led to a significant expansion of such practices, generating mixed results depending upon the service involved and the adequacy of government oversight. Voucher programs allowing parents to enroll their children in participating private schools of their choice, and to pay the tuition in full or in part with a...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Sheila Suess Kennedy

Authors
  1. Sheila Suess Kennedy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sheila Suess Kennedy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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Kennedy, S.S. (2018). School Voucher Programs. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3622-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3622-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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