Current efforts to change schools fall into two general categories. The first involves the decentralization of administrative power to school settings, much like a popular movement to move many governmental social functions, such as welfare, to the state and regional levels. The second is to create competition among school districts for students, a fundamental principle of the industrialized world that purports to provide a broader range of products and services at a price bearable by the market. When parents have the option of sending their children to more than one school, the term “school choice” is often used. There are many factors involved in creating a good learning environment for children. There is little evidence that decentralization as the first (or only) element of an educational program of school restructuring is a successful strategy. Changes in governance can be critical to restructuring when they occur alongside other activities designed to improve student learning and when they work to support this goal (Conley, 1993). Recent problems at commercially operated schools in Baltimore and Hartford may be indicative of compounding effects of complex factors that can render seemingly well-thought-out plans ineffective in serving the communities they serve. In this article I will detail the reasons for my support for school choice, because its success does not necessarily depend on a change in all educational institutions involved. Rather, school choice enables a fundamental shift in how we participate in our children's education. It involves the act of volition and constitutes a practice generally reserved for most other aspects of American society: free choice. For... halfway through the paper... and what they produce will continue to go up. Increasing expectations will perpetuate the continuous cycle of change; change that will produce schools that are constantly seeking better learning environments for their students. Works Cited Conley, David T. (1993). A Roadmap to Restructuring, ERIC clearinghouse on educational management Finn, C.E., and Ravitch, D. (1995) Magna Charter? A Report Card on School Reform in 1995, http://www.heritage.org/heritage/p_review/fall95/thfinn.htmlMartin, M. (1991). Trading the known for the unknown: Warning signs in the school choice debate. Education and Urban Society, 23, 2.McClaughry, John, (1995). Educational Choice: It really works in Vermont. http://www.heartland.org/worksVT.htm School District Profiles: What the Details Mean Parent Information Center,