MINNESOTA FEDERATION OF CITIZENS FOR EDUCATIONAL FREEDOM:

The Citizens for Educational Freedom (CEF) is a non-sectarian, non-partisan national organization of citizens and organizations dedicated to increasing a parent's options to send their children to non-public schools. It was established by twelve people in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1959 and has since grown to have local chapters and state federations in every state. The Minnesota branch, officially named the Minnesota Federation of Citizens for Educational Freedom, Inc., was established on July 20, 1971, in St. Paul.

CEF is an advocacy group for Roman Catholic and other non-governmentally funded schools that since its founding has fought for fair busing legislation, tuition tax deductions and credits, health services, guidance and counseling, instructional materials, special education opportunities, and educational vouchers for non-public school students. CEF has worked for national and state legislation in these areas and has defended gains in court. The Minnesota Federation's appeal of the Education Expense Deduction Law (Mueller case) reached the United States Supreme Court in 1983 and that court upheld a non-public school parent's right to the deduction enacted by the Minnesota law. While it didn't amount to much money per student at first, increases have occurred in subsequent years and an important principle was upheld. Legal defense was costly, in this case, as the Minnesota Federation of CEF incurred a $10,000 debt. In short, CEF believes in freedom of choice in education for parents and students is an inalienable right, and any infringement of which, whether by financial penalty, loss of tax dollars, or excessive government regulation is in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In the mid-1990s, the organization changed its name to Choice in Education Foundation.

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This collection is arranged as an alphabetical sequence of subject files. Included are articles of incorporation, bylaws, board of directors minutes, brochures, financial statements, newsletters, and clippings. While the minutes cover a twenty-year period from the early 1970s to the early 1990s, most of the collection dates from 1986 to 1991. The CEF Education Foundation, Compulsory School Attendance Task Force, the High School Graduation Incentives Program, and the CEF rally at the State Capitol on May 6, 1987 are documented in this collection. Various research papers, reports, articles, and newspaper clippings discuss educational vouchers, tuition tax credits, and other topics of interest to non-public school families. Membership, fund raising, and lobbying activities of the organization also are documented.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Citizens for Educational Freedom. Minnesota Federation Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,504

Processing Information:

Processed by: Richard W. Arpi, June 2005

Catalog ID number: 990036962310104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Educational vouchers -- Minnesota.

Government aid to education.

Private schools -- Minnesota.

School choice -- Minnesota.

Tuition tax credits -- Minnesota.

Organizations:

Choice in Education Foundation.

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