The second issue of our series published jointly with the Milton and Rose D. Friendman Foundation includes an essay by Milton Friedman on “The Role of Government in Education” and an explanation of the principles of a well designed program.
Issue 2: Milton Friedman and the principles behind school choice

The Josiah Bartlett Center’s newsletter published jointly with the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation examines the public policy benefits of a well-designed school choice program.

Issue 1: The facts about School Choice

WHEN 25 PERCENT of New Hampshire’s high school students drop out something needs to change. Far too many of the students who need the benefit of a good education fall through the cracks and drop out. A targeted school choice program can provide students whose only current option isn’t working with an opportunity to find another choice to help them succeed.

In this study, economist Brian Gottlob determines that a means tested school choice certificate program could save the state budget $32 million over eight years. For this study, Mr. Gottlob examined a program like the ones introduced in the legislature the last two years that would cap the total number of vouchers, direct a full voucher to children at the lowest income levels and award partial vouchers on a sliding scale to more moderate income families.

The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy’s comprehensive analysis demonstrates that a choice program is consistent with court opinions and permissible under the New Hampshire State Constitution. In addition, a discussion of the Blaine Amendment describes their bigoted history.

A study in partnership with the Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation to examine the financial impact of a state school choice pilot program. The study shows that the voucher would be less than the avoided variable costs – resulting in a net financial gain for most communities.

Suppose the Constitution of the United States were amended to adopt a legislator to citizen ratio comparable with that of New Hampshire’s. Once ratified, the United States Congress would grow from 535 members to a body almost 82,000 strong. Of course that is a ridiculous scenario.

It has certainly been a frustrating few years for our elected state officials. Despite heroic efforts by many leaders there is still no agreement on a long-term solution to the Claremont school funding mandate. Some have argued that if the legislature weren’t so large and the members weren’t so old, it would be a lot easier to get things done. Others say the answer is to have professional legislators who are paid a living wage instead of the $100 annual stipend our citizen legislators currently earn.

A new paper from The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy focuses on the application of managed care to mental health care in New Hampshire. In the physical health context, whether managed care has been an overall positive or negative is far from decided, yet many people appear to be adjusting to the demands of managed care. Because of the stigma associated with receiving mental health treatment, consumers of mental health services are in a different position when it comes to asserting and defending their rights to insurance coverage for appropriate treatment. This new study examines how the treatment of mental illness has developed differently from other medicine and how managed care has created separate (but apparently not equal) systems for providing and administering mental health care benefit plans. The following paragraphs summarize the paper\’s conclusions.