美國中小學學校選擇政策新趨勢：以聯邦法案與最高法院判決為例

The New Trends of School Choice of Elementary and Secondary Education in the USA: Federal Legislation and Supreme Court Decision

學校選擇是美國當前重要的教育改革措施之一，2001 年「帶好每位孩子法案」（The No Child Left Behind Act）規定，若學校連續二年未有足夠進步，應提供家長為子女選擇學區內之其他公立學校就讀，學區必須支付或提供選擇轉學學生的交通，此為公立學校選擇的實施；2002 年，聯邦最高法院發布Zelman v.Simmons-Harris 判決，宣告「克里夫蘭獎助金計畫」並不違反憲法，支持政府經費透過獎助金或教育券的方式補助給個人，經由個人的教育選擇結果，政府經費間接到達教會學校，貧窮的都市學童可就讀私立學校或教會學校，有助於教育機會均等之實踐，可說是自1954 年聯邦最高法院Brown v. Board of Education 判決，廢止黑白學生分校政策以來，最具宣示性質的突破判決，此為私立學校選擇重大的里程碑。首先，本文探討學校選擇的內涵、類型、爭議和現況等基本概念，其次，係針對上述聯邦法案及最高法院判決，探討美國中小學學校選擇的新趨勢，最後，提出對我國學校選擇政策的啟示。

School choice is one of the most important education policies in the USA currently. According the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001， if a school that fail to make adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years must provide parents to choose other public school. School districts have to pay for or provide transportation to another public school in the district. This measure is called public school choice. In 2002， Supreme Court of the United States has issued Zelman v. Simmons-Harris decision that upholding the constitutionality of the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program and not violating the separation of church and state. It supports publicly funded scholarship or voucher for parents. According the result of individual choices， the money flow to religious schools indirectly. This decision which has made equal educational opportunities more readily attainable to poor inner-city children that may attend private or religious schools is a significant breakthrough since the court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education that ended schools segregation. This ruling also is the tremendous milestone of private school choice. Firstly， this paper discusses the concepts of school choice including content， typology， controversies and situation. Then， it reviews the aforementioned federal legislation and Supreme Court decision and analysis the new trends of school choice of elementary and secondary education in American. At last， the implications for implementation of school choice in Taiwan are offered.