Privatizing Schools

The basic moral argument against public schools is the same as against government intervention in any sector of the economy – that it violates the rights of those from whom the means are extorted and of those who would have otherwise provided the services. But in some sectors the effects of government social engineering are much more pernicious than in others, and in that sense, if one must choose one’s battles, education is a great place to start. For example, though farm subsidies are immoral and harmful to both taxpayers and to the displaced competitors, at least the end result of the subsidies (except when farmers are paid not to produce) is healthy food. In the case of education, however, not only is every taxpayer violated and every would-be private competitor hamstrung, but in the end, children are indoctrinated rather than educated -- and in many cases we are actually paying teachers to argue for our own destruction, whether morally, economically, or most egregiously via violent jihad! (To carry the farmer analogy further it would be like paying the farmers to cloth us in poison ivy and feed us magic mushrooms and hemlock). That’s why I’m delighted that Dr. Brad Thompson will be giving an ARI-supported public lecture on:

The Separation of School and State:
The Case for Abolishing America's Government Schools
March 27th, 2007.

Details here.