John Coons

Faith-based education opens doors

John Coons co-authors opinion-editorial for USA Today, December 18, 2013

The U.S. lacks a surplus of high-quality schools, especially that serve the urban poor. Yet year after year, we have watched as thousands of faith-based schools have been forced to close. America is losing a valuable national asset—not because it has become obsolescent or because the demand for it has disappeared, but because of a needlessly narrow view of which families should have the choice in education that is so dear to the middle class.

Public pluralism

John Coons, Stephen Sugarman write editorial letters to First Things, February 2012

John Coons: Our melange of state-funded and private schools have maintained choice for families who can afford either to locate in a desirable district or pay private tuition. Those who cannot do either get educated in a school chosen by strangers. We trust only the well-off parents.

Stephen Sugarman: Charter schools are now at the heart of the public school choice movement. But the one type of school currently not permitted to be a charter school is the religious school. This forces parents who prefer a religious education for their children either to pay for it, find financial aid, or settle for something else.