An Op/Ed appearing in a recent edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Emory University Professor Lucas Carpenter argued that maintain the nation’s public school system was essential for American society.

Professor Carpenter incorrectly noted that chief among the critics of America’s public schools are members of the GOP who decry these institutions, in reality the Republicans have been equally culpable in enabling the lax quality of education.

They view public education as propagating all kinds of "politically correct" beliefs that denigrate individual achievement, disparage religion and encourage a secular lifestyle where government is the sole source of security and moral authority. They want public schools that convey conservative Judeo-Christian beliefs and "family values" in the curriculum along with a jingoistic patriotism and harsh discipline that produce an easily manipulated electorate.

Carpenter’s assessment of the Republican view is largely correct, there are those that hold such views and there certainly are those on the opposite end of the spectrum who want nothing more than to see this vision fulfilled. In reality, the vast majority of Americans want neither reality. The simple fact that a school is funded and operated by the government doesn’t mean it is inherently evil, nor would it be appropriate for a public school to convey “Judeo-Christian” beliefs or any other faith for that matter.

Public schools, however, are far from the utopian panacea those of the left would have us believe. The simple fact remains that American children are far less prepared for the rigors of the modern world than most children in other post-industrialized nations. In spite of the fact that our public schools spend far more per pupil than most every other nation on other, our children lag behind in math, science and reading comprehension, yet individuals like Lucas Carpenter deride the push for school choice, arguing that it will harm the public schools. Which is more important the public school as an institution or the students these schools were supposedly designed to educate. Why must American children remain trapped in a system of failure and mediocrity, just to protect an institution? Such institutions aren’t worth saving at such a cost to our nation’s survival.

Perhaps if our nation’s schools were the envy of the world such an argument would have some merit, our schools, however, are far from the envy of the world, but the laughing stock. Why in such hotbeds of socialism like western Europe is there school choice but not in America? Why? Why must American children be used a guinea pigs to prove a political point?

…the biggest threat to public education comes from the conservative true believers in the power of the free market to transform society. These free-market fundamentalists want to privatize public education, making it possible for entrepreneurs to assume control and compete with one another for financial profit. However, this commodification of education will invariably produce a plethora of unregulated education "products" of varying degrees of secularism and religiosity, pedagogical orientation and, most significantly, expense.

Translation: Parents cannot be trusted to make the best decision with regard to education on behalf of their children, only our all knowing, all powerful paternalistic national government has the wherewithal to make such decisions.

Even with the Republicans' highly touted voucher systems, which ostensibly provide for equality of access, the inevitable result will still be that more money will buy a better education and the poor will be left with what's cheapest.

If more money buys the best education one certainly can’t tell based on the performance of our nation’s public schools, which spend more on average than most private or home school education environment with paltry results.
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/opinion/stories/2007/09/19/schoolsed0919.html