On June 4, 1991, Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson signed the nation’s first charter school law, creating a new category of publicly funded but independently operated schools that would transform American education over the following three decades. The legislation, championed by the Citizens …
Governor Arne CarlsonMinnesota LegislatureCitizens LeagueTed KolderieJoe Nathaneducationcharter-schoolsprivatizationschool-choicemodel-legislation
On March 27, 1990, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson signed legislation creating the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the nation’s first publicly-funded voucher program allowing public tax dollars to pay private school tuition. The program, initially limited to 1,000 low-income …
Governor Tommy ThompsonRepresentative Polly WilliamsBradley FoundationMilwaukee Public Schoolseducationvouchersprivatizationschool-choicemilwaukee+1 more
On April 26, 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education released “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform,” a report that fundamentally reshaped American education discourse and laid the ideological groundwork for decades of privatization efforts. The …
National Commission on Excellence in EducationSecretary of Education Terrel BellRonald ReaganHeritage Foundationeducationprivatizationreagan-eramanufactured-crisisschool-choice+1 more