Did you attended public school?
If you’re like me, you probably have some fond memories of those days. You feel a connection with public school simply because it’s familiar and comfortable.
I’d like to suggest that, in spite of our feelings, there’s a better way – private education.
When you invest your money, what kind of return do you expect? These days, you can earn anywhere from ½ percent in a savings account to as much as 6 or 7 percent or more for investments with more risk involved. Would you consider investing in something that costs you 50 percent or more of your investment?
That’s not unlike what we’re doing when we send our tax dollars to fund public education. Gregory Fossedal, in the March 27, 1996 edition of the Wall Street Journal, stated that:
“America's public elementary and secondary schools employ 2.6 million people who do not teach, and three million teachers. By contrast, the ratio of teachers to non-teachers is 2 to 1 in U.S. private schools, about what it was 40 years ago in the public schools.”
Here is the 2001-2002 breakdown of California’s non-teaching staff. The total at the bottom of the table has increased by 55 percent over the past 14 years.
California Department of Education
2001-2002 Breakdown of
Non-teaching Full-time Equivalent
Pupil Services Staff
Councelors | 6,442 |
Psychologists | 3,707 |
Librarians | 1,274 |
Social Workers | 183 |
Nurses | 2,443 |
Speech/language/hearing specialists | 4,197 |
Resource specialists | 545 |
Other pupil services staff | 2,771 |
State Total | 21,562 |
As you review these positions, please consider that most parents can and should be handling these duties themselves (or seeing to it that they’re handled) – our parents did.
Since the government runs them, public schools are subject to countless regulations that hamper teachers from being effective. Student discipline, for example, is a serious and growing problem in our schools, and the teachers in many cases are helpless to do anything about it.
Political correctness is alive and well in the public school system. Just listen to this excerpt from a book review in the April 28, 2003 edition of the Los Angeles Times:
“What do dinosaurs, mountains, deserts, brave boys, shy girls, men fixing roofs, women baking cookies, elderly people in wheelchairs, athletic African Americans, God, heathens, witches, owls, birthday cake and religious fanatics all have in common? Trick question? Not really. As we learn from Diane Ravitch's eye-opening book "The Language Police," all of the above share the common fate of having been banned from the textbooks or test questions (or both) being used in today's schools.”
Diane's book is: "The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn," published by Knopf; 1st edition (April 15, 2003), ISBN: 0375414827
Private schools give control of the educational process back to those that truly deserve and in fact need that control – the parents. A growing number of parents have realized this, and are taking action. Sylvia Costen reports in the February 16, 2003 edition of the Richmond Virginia Times-Dispatch that “private schools have shown steady growth in the last half-century, and now make up one-fourth of the schools in the United States.”
The Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Education and the National Center for Education Statistics all agree that home schooling is growing at a healthy rate. Independent universities and trade schools continue to proliferate. How many TV and radio commercials have you heard recently advertising this business school or that technical university?
If we in fact were to come to the conclusion that private schooling is a better way, how do we stop the waste of money on public schooling? Eliminate public schooling altogether.
I hear you cry, “Wow! You can’t be serious??? We couldn’t do that! Our country would collapse!”
Yes, you’re right – if we did it all at once. That’s why I propose a gradual reduction in public schooling over a significant number of years:
- close all public universities 20 years from now
- high schools 5 years after that
- intermediate schools and junior high schools 5 years after that
- elementary schools 10 years after that
This gradual 40-year schedule of closings would allow everyone – educators and parents alike – plenty of time (two generations) to plan for the future.
And as these schools close, I propose that 80 percent of the tax money spent on public education be returned to us in the form of tax cuts, with the remaining 20 percent being diverted to increase police protection for our cities.
You may ask, “What will happen to those who can’t afford private schools?”
I’ve wondered that myself, and it concerned me. And then I realized a couple of things.
One, we Americans always rise to a challenge – where there’s a will, there’s a way. I’m confident that when parents truly consider what’s best for their children, they’ll do whatever is necessary to provide an education for them.
And Two, this capitalistic and charitable society of ours will provide a way. Entrepreneurs will create educational opportunities to fit almost any budget, because there would be a profit to be made.
The least fortunate among us would have access to even greater pools of private scholarships than they do today, thanks in part to the tax cuts I’ve proposed. Charitable organizations would create many kinds of free schooling for children from severely impoverished families. The money is out there, and as people are allowed to keep more of their income, they will become more charitable – we see it happen daily in this great country of ours.
I have no doubt that as our country’s culture regarding education changes to meet this challenge, we will emerge with a system of private education that will be the envy of the entire planet – we’re that good!
Yes, there is a better way.
Let’s educate our children the way that makes sense – in private schools.
