It's not the school system that needs saving, or even reforming. It's the children who need to escape from the failing government schools and be allowed to home school or attend successful private schools, without the penalty of paying twice -- once with taxes and again for tuition.

The real question is, do we want the best education we can get for our children, or do we merely want to maintain the government school monopoly, no matter how bad it gets or how much it costs? Contrary to the argument that's sometimes heard, saving some children from bad schools does not doom the rest of them; it simply saves some. And that is obviously better, by whatever means is available, than saving none. As long as schools are under the control of politicians and government bureaucrats, hand in hand with the teachers' unions, the education will not be "healthy" because politics kills education. Government incentives prevent the needed reforms and innovations. Think of all the instruction in government schools that's mandated by politicians because of pressure from various interest groups and campaign contributors. It takes up about half of every school day at the expense of what most parents expect from the schools -- core academics.

What's wrong is that the government is not a proper agency for education. It thrives on its own failure -- the worse it does, the more money politicians give it. While state-run schools fail at high cost, private parent-directed and funded schools succeed at half the per-student cost. The problem is that government schools do not seek the same things that parents seek for their children. Government wants compliant predictable citizens; parents want independent thinking creative individuals. The two goals are not compatible. Parents need the freedom to choose where their children will go to school, and that choice must include private and religious schools. No child should be forced to attend a bad school, and no one should be forced to pay ever-higher taxes to prop up a failing system.

Government is the problem in education, just as it is in other areas (medicine, welfare, etc.) and the private sector is the solution. State-run schools will not reform themselves, ever. Education, and the money that pays for it, needs to be put back into the hands of parents and removed from politics. Parents must have the right to spend their own money for the schooling they choose. End the failure. End the monopoly, End the corruption. End the blame game. Save the children.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

"All education has three dimensions: knowledge, skills, and values.... The diversity of values supported by parents, and the differing hopes they hold for their children, cannot be adequately addressed by a 'common school system,' even if it is well funded and staffed with competent, caring teachers.... By eliminating the politically-determined imposition of values, we can promote social harmony, protect parental rights and responsibilities, and enable schools, teachers, and students to flourish in an environment of full educational freedom." from The Proclamation for the Separation of School and State. Marshall Fritz, founder of The Separation of School and State Alliance, is well on the way to his goal of gathering 25 million signatures and establishing an Alliance chapter in each state. For more information, contact SSSA, 4578 North First #310, Fresno, CA 93726 phone 209-292-1776