The Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann) was established in 1919. Under the Irish Constitution, parents (not schools) are responsible for the education of their children. They are free to send their children to any school, school them at home, or start their own school. All schools are state funded for major capital and operational costs (Embassy of Ireland, 2006; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 1991). Ninety percent of Irish schools are affiliated with the Catholic Church. Gaelic is the first language of Ireland even though since 1922 a primary aim of education has been to promote bilingualism (OECD, 1991). According to O’Sullivan (2001), “the entire school system of Ireland resembles the charter school system in the United States” (p. 106). Most of the 3,200 primary schools are denominational and managed by churches. However, no child may be refused enrolment to any school on religious grounds. Recent studies of academic achievement consistently rank Irish students in the top 10 of 27 OECD countries (see The Irish Journal of Education, volume 33, 2002, Special Issue on PISA). FitzGerald (2003) has found that given the levels of funding, Irish education is highly productive. So we find a highly rated educational system with universal choice on a scale, based upon assumptions, and using terminology which is unknown in America.
About the Study
School University of Hawaii
Areas of Interest
School Choice
Charter Schools
In this mixed method, state level exploratory study, we will analyze primary (the equivalent of k – 6th grade in the U. S.) school choice in the Republic of Ireland and the state of Hawaii. Hawaii was chosen as the comparison state because both are composed of islands and have constitutionally mandated dual language requirements. Both have historically offered school choice, one publicly financed and the other, until recently, privately funded. Both currently have what can be called charter schools and native immersion schools.
