WHO CHOOSES - VOUCHER AND INTERDISTRICT CHOICE PROGRAMS IN MILWAUKEE

Choice in American education remains one of the more important and cer tainly more controversial issues in education reform movements. This a rticle analyzes two types of choice programs located in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Numerous research issues are involved in the debate s over educational choice. Two of the most important sets of issues ar e who chooses and why, and what are the effects on educational outcome s' This article is concerned with the first set of questions. The them e of the article is that who chooses is a function of the type and des ign of the choice program itself Although there are some similarities in the characteristics of students and families in the Milwaukee Paren tal Choice program (a private-school voucher program) and the Chapter 220 program (an inter-district public-school choice program), the cont rasts are sharp and consistent across key variables. That result may n ot be welcomed by those seeking simple and decisive conclusions concer ning some general theory of educational choice. We, however, view it s omewhat positively because the mes sage is that policymakers have the ability to create different choice programs to address different probl ems with appropriate effects on diverse student populations.