School choice is the hottest idea in the area of education reform today.
Enormously controversial, the idea is receiving a limited tryout in a few areas of the U.S., most notably in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While the school choice controversy, and legislative and initiative battles, can be expected to build for the next decade, some private entrepreneurs aren't waiting for a change in public policy. In several cities around the country, school choice voucher programs are being launched with private philanthropic funds. This money is spent entirely remote from schools. Originally formed to achieve economies of scale by providing specified support services to local school districts, the County Offices of Education have grown into substantial bureaucracies in their own right.