ia (near San Jose), with 15,000 students (55% Hispanic), agreed to try the voucher system (Salganik, 1981, p. 7). In 1972-73, the parents of Alum Rock students were given a choice among several public schools, each of which contained several minischools. This experiment lasted five years. No private schools participated. The plan to fully inform the parents of their options was not available until the third year, and in the last year, the minischool aspect of the program was abandoned. Two other voucher projects died before implementation, one from lack of interest from principals and the other from rejection from voters, who turned it down because they feared increased costs.
The Alum Rock experiment expanded parental choice to a limited degree. The school provided free transportation to children who needed it. However, the project did not contain key components of a genuinely competitive market system. Private schools were not included in the program. Parents did not really have choices among a wide variety of various kinds of programs reflecting
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