> It's not the place of our government to solve everyone's problems. They can only do so at the cost of redistrubting prosperity to those who "need" it more, and by restricting our freedoms.

Wow. You are even more conservative than I am. I recite the "not the place of our government to solve everyone's problems" mantra in one form or another over an awful lot of issues, and the "freedom should not be sacrificed for security" mantra over others.

Education is not one of them. I am STRONGLY in favor of state-run public educational systems. I am STRONGLY in favor of mandatory education up through completion of high school, whether you're a minor or not, which is even stricter than what we've got now. Education cannot be undervalued. If there is one single thing that directly or indirectly affects all things that make a country stand, grow, and prosper, or buckle in on itself and die, it's education. This goes beyond personal freedom here. We CAN'T have the freedom to fail in this. This isn't trading freedom for security, or trading freedom for charity, it's trading freedom for existence. The fate of the country rests on the education of our nation's citizens. Anything that can be done to have every last American citizen educated through high school AND have the means, opportunity, and encouragement to continue their education beyond high school, has to be a good thing.

Say what you like about the state of public schools, it is indisputable that they are better than no schools at all. And, frankly, I don't think the public schools that I went to are all that bad. It depends a lot on your area, as schools are run by the state and not by the federal government. I've attended public schools in New Hampshire, Virginia, and overseas on an American army base. All were excellent, but I realize others are not as well off. So rather than taking the easy way out and nuking the system, let's bite the bullet and fix it.