Choice and equity in education: the role of specialised schools

Background: Across several countries, recent educational reforms have introduced quasi-markets in educational services, which promote parental choice. Israel’s specialised public education schools (SPESs) embody this trend by incorporating practices typically associated with private education into a public framework. While expanding parental choice, SPESs have sparked tensions regarding equitable access to education. 

Purpose: This study analysed Israel’s SPES policies from 1985 to 2022, with the aim of examining how these policies balanced the values of parental choice and educational equity. It posed the following research questions: 1) What is the interaction between promoting SPES policies in Israel, the drive towards increasing choice and the need to strive for equity? and 2) To what extent is there agreement among the different voices of policy actors regarding SPESs in Israel? 

Method: The research employed a qualitative design based on an integrative model synthesising Schmidt’s (2006) interpretive value- critical policy analysis with Brighouse et al.'s (2018) equity evaluation approach. Data sources included 37 policy documents and semi-structured interviews with five senior government officials. Data were analysed thematically. 

Findings: The study demonstrates a shift of educational policymaking in Israel from centralised government control to parent – local authority coalitions, leading to the institutionalisation of SPESs, which have reshaped governance power dynamics. There was a dissonance between the declared goal of promoting equity and SPESs’ selective recruitment practices, which typically favoured students from privileged backgrounds. Despite intentions to diversify quality school options, the SPES model has exposed and, in some cases reinforced, structural inequities in school accessibility. 

Conclusion: The findings suggest that policymakers could enhance school choice policy by reconciling public education with SPESs and adapting the model to better serve the general population. This would maximise equity while maintaining excellence and addressing individual student needs. Future comparative research could examine how education systems internationally respond to the inherent tension between parental autonomy and the commitment to social equity.