Chilun gettin dem Edications?

For most who know much about our public school system, they should know not how good or bad it is, but rather how inconsistent it is. As a student in the Cherry Creek School district in Aurora, Colorado, I've seen how good a public school can be. It doesn't hurt that the school is in a very affluent area which pads tax revenues. This allows the school to hire better teachers, offer better books and overall a better curriculum. For me, it allowed me to get a leg up on thousands of other American students, like my wife who attended a less presitigious school. In Miami, less prestigious means schools like those in the movies "Dangerous Minds," or "Stand and Deliver." Places where survival was not always assured, much less an education.

In Miami, the tax revenue is far less than some affluent neighborhood in Colorado. My wife tells me stories of classrooms not having enough desks or books. Students would have to sit on chairs and balance their notepads and books on their laps. Although I know one example does not make a trend, I've heard about the general dilapidation of school systems all over the country, especially here in D.C. A strong teacher's union, with low tax revenues makes for one shitty school system. A school system that has claimed countless administrators in trying to fix it. I believe this inefficiency lies in the fact that schooling is administered by the government.

But why would I say the government makes inefficient school systems? It is very simple. It all goes back to the idea that in trying to do everything, nothing is done well. This is just as true in schooling. I believe a more specified system would do better for the individual student and his or her parents. If parents were allowed to choose a school for their child the same way they choose their children's food, clothing, etc., then they would be better able to choose the best school and indirectly the best future for their child. Please don't be fooled, most parents do want what's best for their children, despite what seems like constant news of child abuse. Horrible parents are outliers, otherwise they would be more common and far less horrifying.

Giving parents the ability to choose schools allows schools to compete for that choice. This gives schools the incentive to provide better books, hire the best teachers and offer a competitive curriculum that will provide for a child's future. A private school can have just as much scrutiny as any public school. An example that relates is the rating companies for the stock market. The same can be done with schools. This would help parents make the right choice for their children. What's better, this would lead to an entire industry opening up in the economy. Tax money would go back to the taxpayer, some of which would go toward tuition.

I know this could be a lot longer argument and that I've forgotten or glossed over a lot. The idea is still valid though. Providing for children's future is not a government's job, it is a parent's. Giving them the opportunity to provide the best education is the best thing any state can do for its constituents. It makes an economy more productive and gives children the best tools to compete in an ever-shifting world.