School Choice in German Primary Schools

The sheer amount of literature on school choice in educational and political research points to the fact that its liberalisation over the past (two) decades is a controversial topic – one that is being intensively discussed. The idea of school choice is often viewed as an aspect of liberal market reform of education, whose central idea is the assumption that the quality and efficiency of school education is enhanced by introducing competition among schools. However, competition can only arise if both main actors, i.e. the schools as well as the parents, are given a certain scope for action.