Friedman, Milton (1912–2006)

Milton Friedman, among the most influential economists of the 20th century, was born in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest child in a poor, Jewish immigrant family. After graduating from Rutgers University in 1932, he received his master's degree from the University of Chicago in the following year, and went on to study mathematical statistics as a fellow at Columbia University. In 1935 he entered government service, and during World War II was employed in the Division of War Research. In 1945 his dissertation was published as Income From Independent Professional Practice, and he received his Ph.D. in 1946. He was a professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1977. Friedman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1976. He and his wife, Rose, established the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation for Education Choice in 1996 to encourage educational reform via school choice.

Throughout his career, Friedman was a prolific writer. His books include Capitalism and Freedom (1962) and Free to Choose (1980), both written with his wife. He became a nationally known, leading advocate of vouchers and education choice. His advocacy of vouchers began in the 1950s. He described education as a government monopoly and [Page 393]favored minimizing the role of government in education. Friedman favored limited government and personal freedom. He was a staunch spokesman for free market competition. Friedman described the need for competition in education to provide the stimulus for innovation. Reform, according to Friedman, comes from competition. Competition would place the choice of schools in the hands of parents. He maintained that schools continued to function in the same manner they had 200 years ago. He said that privatization of schooling would result in the transformation of the schools. Competition would force improvement of the schools. Free market competition would lead to the reform of the schools. This anticipated transformation would benefit all students. He gave particular attention to the anticipated results vouchers would yield for disadvantaged students. Friedman noted that public schools have no incentive to change. He lamented the size and power of the teacher unions and identified these groups as part of the bureaucracy of the schools and the resistance to reform.

Friedman advocated for school vouchers as a means of privatizing schools and providing freedom of choice to students and parents. Vouchers would create incentives for schools to meet the needs of consumers. In the case of schools, the consumers are the students. He suggested that vouchers should be made available to all and in large enough sums to promote high-quality education. He noted that the children of the rich have school choice. Wealthy parents can choose to send their children to any school they desire—private or public—because they are able to pay the tuition and costs associated with the choice. Poor families do not have the financial resources to choose the schools their children will attend. He identified Blacks and minorities as the most disadvantaged groups in the United States. According to Friedman, vouchers would provide choice to all students—of all income and social classes—and would make opportunities equally available to all families and students.

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