At the dawn of the 21st century, America, like many post-industrial western nations, is faced with many problems, including a burgeoning federal debt, the impending meltdown with Social Security and Medicare, the ongoing assault on private property and so on, but perhaps the greatest threat facing this country is the state of public education, or shall we say, the lack of education. The US lags behind most every other industrialized country in terms of the academic prowess of our young people. For over two decades, politicians have offered the same tired solutions for this educational deficiency: more money. Today the US spends nearly $8000 per year per pupil, far more than most every other country on Earth with little to show for it.

Public education in America is a colossal failure, a failure that is perpetuated by corrupt pandering politicians who deny their constituents the one option that would stem the festering decay in America’s public schools: choice. Rather than considering choice, government bureaucrats, teacher’s unions and leftist politicians warn that choice would leave America’s public schools gutted with little money to support their mission of educating children. As result we must endure a Soviet style educational bureaucracy in which the government plays the role of parent, dictating what schools children must attend, regardless of quality or merit. These same politicians argue that they are working to improve education in America, by allocating more money and resources, but what happens in the mean time? Our children become guinea pigs while our political leaders throw money down the rat hole that is the nation’s public school system.

Competition is one of the hallmarks of capitalism. Competitive forces inevitably lead to greater choice, greater quality and lower costs for consumers. Yet competition is noticeably absent when it comes to public education. Even in Europe, the hotbed of socialist experimentation, parents and students are afforded the luxury of choice. In many European countries parents have the option of choosing a state school, a secular private school or a religious school, on the government’s dime. Europeans, however, aren’t the only ones who surpass the US and also embrace school choice. Hong Kong has fully embraced the spirit of capitalism, including education.

Why is school choice such an unacceptable proposition for the American left when their socialist cohorts in Europe have embraced the notion? Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that while most Europeans have been fully indoctrinated into the state centric cradle-to-grave, welfare state mentality, many Americans stubbornly cling to an independent streak drawing back to before the American Revolution. Many Americans foolishly believe that they needn’t rely on government to meet their every need (yet), this foolish oversight can only be corrected through government sponsored education and thus the premise of school choice runs counter to this objective and must be opposed at every turn. Perhaps if American schools embraced rigorous standards and were committed to academic excellence, then perhaps the matter of school choice would not be such a great concern, though it would still be desirous in a freedom loving country, which we claim to be.

Whatever the reason for the rejection of choice in the US, the result is the same, America is drifting further and further behind and closer and closer toward serfdom.
Link to Hispanic Business article