Schools, Vouchers, and the American Public.

• Author: Merrifield, John D.

By Terry Moe Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2001. Pp. 350. $29.95 cloth, $22.95 paper.

In a timely work, Schools, Vouchers, and the American Public, Terry Moe considers a number of public-opinion mysteries and largely neglected political topics. A discussion regarding the results of a 1995 survey takes up most of the book. Moe surveyed a nationally representative sample of 4,700 adults, with much greater precision and in greater detail than other pollsters. The differences between Moe's findings and those of other surveys are startling yet intuitively appealing.

The first five chapters pertain to attitudes toward the current educational system, including the strong desire to "go private." The last five chapters explore opinion about vouchers and public-school choice. Because so few Americans are aware of the school choice issues, the first five chapters make the greatest contribution to the K-12 reform debate. Moe explains mysteries such as (1) the strong public support for a system that until the September 11 terrorist attacks was seen as so unsatisfactory that its reform was considered America's number one political imperative and (2) the strong desire to go private despite the significant handicaps and shortcomings of most of the current private schools.

The primary message of the first half of the book is that most people think their assigned public school is academically solid, but they also think that the private sector offers even better schooling--better in general or maybe just a particular option that is better for them. There is deeply ingrained attachment to the current system. Many people think that public schools deserve their support even if they prefer a private school. The apparent attachment to the system may stymie parental-choice proposals. However, the apparent attachment may represent only support for universal access to education, and it may reflect an ends-means confusion. Many people equate universal access with the government-run system they are used to. My discussions with lay people repeatedly demonstrate the difficulty of getting people to view vouchers or tax credit as anything but a potential addition to the current system. Moe appears to be among the many who resist the notion that vouchers or tax credits can actually replace the current system.

Moe's finding that most parents are reasonably satisfied with the academic side of their assigned public school highlights a great opportunity to promote...