In Britain I have tended to be scornful of the campaign that has sputtered on for years in favour of Education Vouchers. I have felt that these campaigners should have concentrated more on putting the broad case for free market education, and should then maybe mention vouchers at the end of their screeds, with the caveat that vouchers are a half-measure, because they still mean the government deciding what "Education" means. After all, you can't be allowed to spend your "Education" Vouchers at the Ice Cream Parlour, can you? That's not a "school", is it? But what if it is, sort of? What if they have books there, and internet connections, and things get learned? See what I mean? Personally I prefer to emphasise the benefits of people getting education for their children using freedom's own vouchers, money.

However, the vouchers picture may start to change here if things in the USA continue to develop there as they are developing over there. There vouchers are spreading fast, and if that leads to a definite gap in quality between the voucher schools and the regular schools, and if that gap is big enough to get noticed over here, then the argument here might shift.

Here is a piece by the Heritage Foundation's Krista Kafer about the growth of school choice, and here is evidence that they are willing to make the campaign politically forceful by making the political personal, the personal bit being about the school choices made by the politicians whom they are targetting.

To me, the big story is how the Americans are not just handing out vouchers to the poor. They are creating circumstances in which even poor people can use some of their own money to make a difference. This is the significance of the tax credit meme. You don't get your good education for free. But good education is brought within your financial range, if you are willing to make a sacrifice for it. That means that the parents who go for it will be the best ones, and that means that the product they buy will stay good, as it expands. A social and cultural change will be set in motion.