Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice is an American education reform organization headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was founded in 1996 by Nobel laureate Milton Friedman and his wife, economist Rose Director Friedman. The Friedman Foundation’s mission is to advance “school choice for all children” nationwide.

Called “the nation's leading advocate of vouchers” by the Wall Street Journal, the Friedman Foundation’s 13-member board is chaired by Dr. Patrick Byrne, chairman and CEO of Overstock.com. The Friedman Foundation, according to its website, works with “nonprofits, schools, community organizations, businesses, parents, teachers, and concerned citizens to provide general education, outreach, and advocacy on school choice.”

History

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice was founded in March 1996 in Indianapolis, Indiana. It originally was known as the Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation. A prominent Indiana politician and friend of the Friedmans, Gordon St. Angelo, served as the Friedman Foundation’s first president, a position he held till 2009, when he was succeeded by Robert Enlow. Other founding directors of the Friedman Foundation include J. Patrick Rooney and Mitch Daniels.

School choice

In 1955, Milton Friedman put forth an idea of using free market principles to improve the United States public school system. Typically, public schools are funded by state and local taxes, and children are assigned a public school based on where their parents live. Friedman proposed that parents should be able to receive those education funds in the form of vouchers, which would allow them to choose their children's schools, including both public and private, religious and non-religious options.

The Foundation follows in Friedman’s view and is focused on the creation and expansion of school choice programs, either through vouchers, tax-based incentive programs, education savings accounts.

Policy influence

The Friedman Foundation’s work is state-focused, with an emphasis on legislation and judicial matters related to school choice.

The Friedman Foundation was involved with the U.S. Supreme Courts’ landmark decision on Ohio’s private school choice program in Cleveland, filing an amicus brief along with the Center for Individual Freedom, Cato Institute, and Goldwater Institute in support of the petitioners. The Supreme Court in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris concluded Cleveland’s school voucher program did not violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

In 2013, the Friedman Foundation was credited with influencing the Indiana Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling that the nation’s largest school voucher program was constitutional. The Friedman Foundation was cited in the official ruling. In responding to the court’s decision, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence credited the Friedman Foundation for its work in ensuring the program’s continuation.

The Friedman Foundation also conducts educational and advocacy work on school choice legislation in states, including Alaska , Indiana , Montana , New Hampshire , North Carolina , and Tennessee.

Research and publications

The Friedman Foundation produces numerous state and national policy studies, research briefs, and voter surveys. Its reports include “The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America’s Public Schools” and “A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice.” Friedman Foundation studies typically are conducted by its research Fellows.

The Friedman Foundation also releases annually “The ABCs of School Choice,” a guide to every private school choice program in America. “The ABCs of School Choice” provides a summary of each voucher, tax-credit scholarship, education savings account, and individual tax credit/deduction program in operation. This publication details each program's funding levels, eligibility requirements, historic participation rates, stories of enrolled students, parents, and schools, and “Friedman Feedback” on how to “improve” according to Milton and Rose D. Friedman’s vision.

Friedman Legacy Day

Every year on what would have been Milton Friedman’s birthday, July 31, the Friedman Foundation hosts a worldwide celebration for its founder. In 2012, the 100th anniversary of Dr. Friedman’s birth saw events held in every American state and 43 countries. Friedman also received coverage from The Atlantic, Glenn Beck’s The Blaze, the Chicago Tribune, Forbes.com, Rush Limbaugh, National Review Online, Thomas Sowell, Slate, and the Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore.

On July 31, 2012, in Chicago, Illinois, the Friedman Foundation held a dinner gala that welcomed host Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus of CME Group (formerly the Chicago Mercantile Exchange), and keynote speaker Dr. Condoleezza Rice. Dr. Rice, a former colleague of Milton Friedman’s at Stanford University, said:

“I often had the opportunity to talk with Milton and (his wife) Rose. They understood the power of ideas – the power of one particular idea. That’s the belief that free markets and free people will own the future.”

Also in 2012, Maine Gov. Paul LePage proclaimed July 31 as “Milton Friedman Day.”

Funding

The Friedman Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization with an annual operating budget of around $4.5 million. According to the organization’s 2012 annual report, 35% of its donations came from special giving, 28% from grants, 20% from personal appeals, 9% from web, events, and publications, 7% from renewal mail and annual gifts, and 1% from direct mail. The Friedman Foundation was not endowed by its founders.

External links

• The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice Website
• Organizational Profile – National Center for Charitable Statistics (Urban Institute)