The Economics and Ethics of Vouchers and Free Market Education
Milton Friedman, who achieved most of his fame in the 1980s with the television series Free to Choose, first proposed vouchers for education in the 1950s. Fundamentally, the idea was for the government to give parents a voucher equal to the amount the government spends per child in government schools, in order to pay for their children’s tuition in private schools. Therefore, vouchers are as much tax-funded as education provided by the government, but Friedman believed that they would expand freedom of choice and improve schools and educational outcomes.