> None of this has anything to do with public >schools, so far as I can tell. California wants >to ban homeschooling, a move you see as wrong, >and so you adopt the position "keep the >government out of schooling."

Nope. I have seen that the public schools in California are failing. My friends who are in the public schools say that schools are overfunded and the teachers are incompotent. As I have said before, I see the government as playing a limited role in our lives. I definitely don't think they should interfere with private education, and I think it's unjust for them to make the rest of us pay for public.

> This is insidious. Your argument about what >the government's rightful place is (which is >actually somewhat, but not quite, close to mine) >can only be said to apply to the realm of >education if you accept the OBVIOUSLY incorrect >premises that (1) the education of an individual >does not have a profound effect on society at >large, (2) that parents will always have the >ability to choose the best (or even ANY) method >of education for their children, (3) that it's >not an injustice for children to be deprived of >an education by parents who are irresponsible >about seeing to it that they get one.

For number 2, of course not. But parents still should have the right to do so. Children are the responsibility of their parents, and their parents should have the right to educate them as they wish. Privately, publically, or by themselves. Parents will not always make the best choice. But the government isn't any wiser. If parents want to homeschool their kids, and the government is convinced that their system of education is better, they still should not overule the authority of the parents. If the parents make poor choices with their children's education, it is a shame. Nevertheless, I believe that parents have the final say in their children's lives, and that the government doesn't.

(3) Injustice? Sure. For someone to be mocked and insulted with racist speech is unjust. Yet we've got the 1st amendment. Or at least we did. But the government can not stop every injustice without controlling every aspect of our lives. Parents not getting health insurance for their children? Sure, unfair. Unjust, even. But not a crime. And not an excuse for the government to take the responsibilites of the parents away.

For number 1... it does. And certainly, everyone SHOULD be educated. But for the government to forcibly redistribute income to make it happen is unjust. The parents who are responsible and personally manage their children's education pay for the education of the children whose parents don't care. I think public schools are a good thing, but that they should be funded privately. In order to accomplish that, we would need to phase out the current system, of course. Children's not getting education is a tragedy, but the government's redistrubting income they way they are now is wrong and has not solved the problem.

> I'm sure if I kept thinking, I could go on. >And on. The extremism with which you carry >tenets even I feel I hold to extremes is >dangerous: the making of a self-destructive >country.
> You don't solve the problem with public schools >by throwing them out. You don't solve the >problem of a particular instance of state >government mishandling education by denying them >any handling of education. Your solution to >everything seems to be to throw it out if it's >not working cleanly the first time. If >education is not perfect, let no one learn >anything at all? I think you need to sit down >and think about what you've been proposing a >little more.

The problem with the education, like so many other things, has been created by the government. The schools that they have created are inferior to the private institutions that exist. Because of what they have done in taxation, they have made it difficult for parents to afford private education and colleges, making for many, public schools the only choice.

I remain convinced that education is not the role of the government, and I doubt we'll find much common ground there. So let's talk about how to fix the current problem.

What's needed is accountability. Both candidates for pres have suggested their own methods of test scores, teacher testing, and the like, but I think there's a better way to do it.

Parental accountability. If a parent is not satisfied with the level of education his/her child is getting, have the government take the money it would be spending on the public school education, and give it to the parent to spend on a private school. Parents would have to freedom to choose where to send their children, and the public schools would be forced to improve.

Certainly, such a system would decrease public school enrollment. But if what matters most to you is the education of America's youth, why should it matter to you where the money is being spent? If they are being educated in the best possible way, why should you care whether the education is taking place at a public or private school?

Vouchers would be a good way to start that out. Provided that the government stays out of the way of private schools, they will not develop the same problems public schools have-government interference in curriculum, politically minded unions, and so on. And there would no longer be a monopoly on education... parents would be able to make the choice for themselves.

Well, that's my two cents. What do you bet no one's going to agree with me?

Mark"The Radical!"N