by Tristan Taylor

Created on: March 10, 2010   Last Updated: October 09, 2010

So much of the discussion going on about public education these days is completely missing the basic principles at the heart of why public education isn’t working.  It is arguable whether or not the state should even be involved in education the same way it should not be involved in religion. 

Where have we gone wrong?  Suggest to anyone that we should not have compulsory attendance laws in our public schools and they will look at you, laugh, and say, “What are you going to do with all those kids who have no one to take care of them every day.  Would you have them roaming the streets?”  To which I would reply, “Is that why we have public education?”

You see, our public education has to have a mission statement that is concise and realistic.  What are the myriad goals that our schools are trying to achieve? 

“Educating every young child in America in every subject to the same level of mastery while providing a wide range of extracurricular activities for young children to develop and enjoy, while trying to teach children the good habits, manners, and values that their parents cannot since many of their parents see them for less than an hour a day.”

So there you have it.  Our public schools have goals that are neither concise nor realistic. 

If we will admit it, public education has always been about babysitting, NOT education.  Now don’t lose your shirt, I know there are plenty of people who truly believe in the noble aim of bringing knowledge and opportunity to everyone.  However, in a healthy free market system, people who truly value the education of their children will find education without having big brother government provide it for them.  Why do we idiotically insist that all children need to master ALL the core subjects and have SO many credits to graduate?  Because it keeps kids busy 8-10 hours a day which provides teachers and administrators with nice, steady, full time jobs while allowing most moms and dads enough time to get in a good day of work while their children are being kept busy learning.

What we should be doing is relying on the free market to fulfill the real economic need which is EFFICIENTLY educating those who are educable.  But what we have is this monstrosity called public education which is really just a babysitting service for mommy and daddy.

We must stop believing the lie that we can have motivated students when

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