Controversies over the merits of public and private education have never been more prominent than today. This book evaluates public and private schooling, especially in regard to choices families must make for their children. While choice among public schools is widely advocated today by families and states, public support for private education--including vouchers, tax credits, charter schools, and private contracting--is politically controversial. The authors accessibly describe what research shows as to the effects--for communities and children--of these approaches. They move beyond school choice to show how other factors--most notably the family--have a strong effect on a child's educational success. The book helps educators and parents better understand the rapidly changing educational environment and the important choices they make in educating the nation's children. Following an initial chapter entitled, Education Privatization in Its Many Forms, the contents of this book are divided into two parts: (1) The Family; and (2) The Private Market. Part 1, The Family, includes the following chapters: (2) Families as Contractual Partners in Education; (3) Modeling School Choice: A Comparison of Public, Private-Independent, Private-Religious and Home-Schooled Students; and (4) Home-Schooling in the US. Part 2, The Private Market, concludes the book with the remainder of the chapters: (5) The Marketplace in Education; (6) The Effects of Competition on Educational Outcomes: A Review of the US Evidence; (7) The Supply of Private Schooling; (8) The Potential of For-Profit Schools for Educational Reform; and (9) Post-Compulsory Entitlements: Vouchers for Life-Long Learning.