Education has been and remains a central concern of American public policy. Traditionally the concern of state and local government, it is increasingly influenced by federal policy, in part because of education’s close connection to other goals such as economic growth. But although education has been an important and highly respected public function, it is currently under attack. The quality of education, the competence of school personnel, and the place of education in social change are all topics of vital concern to many Americans. Several policy instruments have been proposed to rectify the perceived difficulties in these areas, the most commonly discussed being the voucher plan, but few statements on education policy have gained wide public acceptance.

        The debate over education policy is in part a result of absence of a widely accepted theory of causation in education. Unlike science policy, education policy is a subject about which reasonable people often disagree radically. Voucher plans are intended in part to allow people to make individual choices concerning education without having to pay too great an economic price. The role of government as the funding agent for these programs, however, requires greater attention to the real benefits of certain forms of education and a decision about just how far the use of vouchers can be allowed to extend. This is a task for rational policy analysts who recognize that such proposals must be subjected to serious political and social scrutiny, especially because education is an issue about which almost everyone has an opinion. Because the students involved are the children of those opinionated people, there will be controversy.