Reviews
"Moe asks the right questions, offers thoughtful, honest, and jargon-free analyses of the answers, and draws conclusions of interest to readers regardless of their position on school vouchers.... This book provides invaluable food for thought to anyone concerned with the politics of education and should be required reading for anyone involved in the battles over school vouchers." --M. Engel, Westfield State College, Choice , 12/1/2001, "Schools, Vouchers, and the American Public is salutary for the analytical depth of its discussion of public opinion and its carefully reasoned case for how the school choice movement should further its cause." --Peter Woolstencroft, Perspectives on Political Science, "Moe's examination of the advantages and disadvantages of legislative and initiative routes to school choice is the first thoughtful analysis of this critical strategic issue.... The voucher movement needs the kind of internal criticism that Moe provide[s]." --Myron Liberman, Bowling Green University, Public Interest , 4/1/2002, "With a Republican in the White House, this book gains currency and immediacy." --Vanessa Bush, Booklist , 5/1/2001, "Moe's new book... is likely to be very influential in shaping the movement's future. Moe has written a nuanced and thoughtful treatise that goes beneath the notoriously unreliable single-shot question favored by the media: Do you favor or oppose school vouchers?" --Richard D. Kahlenberg, Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation, The Nation , 11/26/2001, "The transformation of the voucher movement and its prospects for the future are thoughtfully assessed in Terry Moe's... book. Moe's analysis of the politics of vouchers is cogent and balanced." --Diane Ravitch, The New Republic , 10/8/2001, "His findings are not only real but also important. We should certainly expect to see the center of the voucher movement shift in future electoral contests." --Melissa J. Marschall, University of Illinois at Chicago, Journal of Politics , 5/1/2002, "A thoughtful, leisurely, and dispassionate review of why voucher plans have failed in public opinion and what might yet make them succeed.... This book should be studied carefully by anyone interested in the fate of vouchers." --James Q. Wilson, Pepperdine University, Commentary , 9/1/2001, "Using the latest social science methods, Terry Moe shows that the critics' fears about the wealthy and the religious taking advantage of school choice are baseless. In fact, Moe concludes, the appeal of such programs is strongest among low-income parents in districts with poorly performing schools --and the primary reason such parents desire choice is not diversity or religion but the opportunity to place their children in schools that will provide a better basic education." --Peter Berkowitz, Weekly Standard , 5/20/2002, "Moe's book is... excellent in all respects." --Peter Woolstencroft, University of Waterloo, Perspectives on Political Science , 1/1/2003, "The book offers ample ammunition for both opponents and advocates of vouchers.... His good news, bad news take lends credibility to his data." --Siobhan Gorman, National Journal , 9/29/2001
