Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Why do we allow the government to control the education of our children?” If you have not, you should. I believe that the only way we can ever fix the problems in our public school system is to take all public schools away from the government and put them into the hands of the free market and parents.
To do that, we must repeal the compulsory school attendance laws and the laws mandating that the government provide places for children to go to school.
I know this is a radical thought and a huge departure from the way we have administered our public school system for a long time, but I believe it is the only way to do it. Once the American people decide to take control of the education of their children and take it away from the state, the level of education our school system will provide will be far greater and of better quality than any that the world has ever seen!
In this 2009 article, Andrew J. Coulson from the CATO Institute for Educational Freedom compared school systems from around the globe and found that, “In more than 150 statistical comparisons covering eight different educational outcomes, the private sector outperforms the public sector in the overwhelming majority of cases.” The issue is, most people cannot afford to pay their taxes to fund the public school, then take additional funds out of their paycheck to then pay for a private school.
When we talk about the problems in our school systems and the inferior quality of education our children are getting today, the solutions put forth usually propose electing the right officials, attending school board meetings, and getting good people elected to the school board. Right now, those are the only solutions we have given the current situation in our school system. Not that I oppose any of those remedies, on the contrary, I highly support them, but none of them are permanent solutions because school boards come and go, and politicians also come and go.
My point is, electing the right officials and having a good school board does not address the inherent problems that come with having a government-controlled school system. The only way to permanently fix this problem is to take the money, power, and control away from the government and put it into the hands of the parents where it belongs.
Do you have children in the public school system? Would you like to send them to a private school that would provide a better education than even today’s most expensive private schools? I cannot imagine any parent ever saying no to that question. It is entirely possible to accomplish, and I believe will be accomplished someday when the American people decide that they have had enough of sending their children to a school system that is failing them.
In my next article I will explain what that school system would look like and how it would work, it may sound like a fantasy school system that is too good to be true, but it is not. All we as Americans must do is to make our school system work the same way that the free-market system works and the level of education our children will receive will be better than anything you could imagine. For now, I will leave you with these two questions, “Are you tired of your children getting a substandard education? Do you want something better”? If so, stay tuned and I will chart a path to a better education, a path that is in fact right in front of you!
