Another spin on school choice

By Bruce Walker
web posted November 24, 2003

The system of public education in America is a complete
disaster. Few people disagree with that assessment. Faith-based
schools have proven their value in educating children and instilling
in those children the civic virtues which are as essential as
education itself to a healthy national culture.

Leftists reflexively oppose support for education which indirectly
may provide funds to church schools, synagogue schools and
parochial schools, based upon the dull Leftist mantra "There
must be a wall between religion and government."

Charter schools offer a better approach, but these seem more
separate from government than most Leftists like. Is there
another approach to school choice? Yes, there is, and we should
begin to push this approach vigorously.

How does the public school system operate in America today?
School districts, which are typically autonomous units of
government, provide all the public school options in a particular
geographical area.

If this public school district is run well, then the parents and
children are happy. But if this public school district is run poorly,
then parents and children of poor and middle class parents can
either pay for private schools or move into districts with good
schools. Both options cost more money than most Americans
can afford.

Public education is right of each American. That means
government must provide education to everyone. But which
government provides this education? We ought to say "All
governments provide a means of education."

Competition always makes things better, and that includes
competition among governments. Our federal system provides
fifty sovereign states which can compete to provide the best
blend of services, expenditures and taxes possible for its citizens.
States that over-tax, under-protect or over-regulate lose money
and congressional seats.

Within states, there are other levels of government competition.
Cities compete with other cities. Rural areas compete with urban
areas. This competition compels governments to care not only
about the political vote of each citizen, but the marketplace vote
of each citizen concerning where he works, where he shops and
where he lives.

The vast majority of Americans live under four overlapping levels
of government: federal, state, county and municipal. These layers
of government often compete in providing higher education.
State universities, city colleges, county learning centers and
federal academies each vie for college students to choose their
institutions.

It is even common for different state universities within a
particular state to compete with each other to provide education
to the citizens of the state (or to people outside the state). The
University of Texas, Texas A & M, and Texas Tech each
provide state higher education to the people of Texas or anyone
who may wish to attend these schools.

One way to improve public education would be to fund state,
city, county and federal government school systems, which
provided students with four different public school systems to
attend in a particular area - four systems in addition to any
autonomous school districts. So students might have public
schools run by five different governments to choose.

What would this provide? Choice! Competition! Shopping! And
this is what Leftists most fear. Government is simply one of best
tools Leftists have found to enslave us. Hollywood and the
broadcast industry, after all, are non-governmental - and they
have long been the bastion of Leftism.

Aside from just competition, having multiple players in the public
education field would allow some genuine innovation. Some
county school system, for example, might hold school year and
have evening classes instead of day classes. Some state might
introduce interactive video classrooms, so that students would
not miss school because of snow days or physical disabilities.
Competition among governments would produce real creativity
and serious thinking.

Redundancy in government operations is often portrayed as
wasteful, but often it is a check upon government abuses. Most
urban areas, for example, have municipal police, county sheriffs,
state polices, and federal law enforcement. Each of these, to
some extent, operates as a check on the others. Each asserts its
independence from the others.
 
Moreover, different levels of government are also responsive to
different groups of voters. City school systems would try to
appeal to city voters, county school systems to voters throughout
the county, and so forth. This would make it much easier to have
real differences in public instruction. Leftists like public schools -
great! - let us give them not just one system of public school for
our children, but four different school systems. Leftists ought to
love that, right?

The only problem for Leftists is that it might work. Educated and
independent minds are the nightmare of every Leftist oligarch
from Dan Rather to David Souter.

Bruce Walker is a senior writer with Enter Stage Right. He is
also a frequent contributor to The Pragmatist and The Common
Conservative.

Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com