The Hidden Price Of Public Education

The Hidden Price of Public Education Governments with an avenue by which they can manipulate the thoughts of their people would be considered tyrannical and oppressive, or so we would think. The truth of the matter is that in America today, the public-school system is exactly that, an avenue by which our government can determine the direction of our thoughts. Upon first glance, this notion sounds utterly ridiculous, does it not? Typically, we view free public education as a huge blessing and a sign of our country's advanced development, but consider this: government determines public school curriculum, the standards which our students must attain, and largely the methods by which our teachers must abide. As a result, our government has, if

As a result, the government, if it so chooses, has the ability to determine both the empirical and ideological content that students of all ages are exposed to. This level and avenue of power has poignant implications, one of which being that it has the potential to violate private freedom of thought. In his essay pertaining to liberty, enlightenment thinker Joseph Priestly explains that "some things are better trusted in the hands of the magistrates than in those of the private person, but with what advantage could a magistrate interfere in a thousand particulars relating to private families, and private friendships? Now I think it is clear that education must be ranked in the latter" (Priestly 21). In this excerpt, Priestly is saying that while governmental control is sometimes effective in certain aspects of civilized life, the direction of education is a private matter and state interference, or publicly controlled education, can only serve as a way to corrupt the freedom of thought within society. The public education system is susceptible to this corruption largely because government has potential incentives to want to regulate and standardize the thoughts and subsequent actions of its people. One such incentive for government is the obtaining of its people's cooperation. As Hobbes said, "prosperity commeth from obedience and

The answer is private sector education districts. As of now, the government spends, on education, about $11,200 a year per student and the average private education costs about $10,700 a year (NCES/NCES). Therefore, the government could afford to fully subsidize the cost of private education for American families. Doing so would eliminate the school system's susceptibility to corruption and would solve the problems of lacking incentive and overregulation. As result, schools would function more efficiently and effectively because they would have to put forth a product that appealed to the parents who would be deciding which private district to place their kids within. Failure to educate properly would lead to there being less students enrolled in an insufficient school and that school would subsequently have less financial resources at its disposal. The main worry with private sector districts would be the potential discrimination and inequality that could result from a completely private education system. However, the government, now distanced from control of education, could have thorough oversight committees to ensure proper practices and eradicate discriminatory practices that the natural flow of the schooling market failed to eliminate. Lastly, private education systems would pave the way for more