Issue 95 Make the Schools Compete June 10,2013

                                       

            Is it possible to make public schools compete against themselves?  Yes, it is very possible if done correctly.  I believe it can be done by eliminating school districts and ensuring your tax dollars go only to the school your child is attending.  Eliminating school districts can lead toward a more competitive public school system and can be done in the following method.  First, make it so that children within a certain radius around a particular school have priority so that if they cannot get into a school of their choice they will still be able to attend a school.  This is the safety net.  Those students who wish to go to a different school will have to apply in a similar fashion to if they applied to a charter or a private school.  Those who meet the requirements will then be chosen by lottery based on the number of available openings in the school.  This allows for parents to get their children out of bad public schools in their area to a school with a better learning environment and give peace of mind to parents that their child is in a better, and some times safer, situation. 

 This may affect travel to school:  A parent may be asking themselves, how do I get my child to a school that is further away?  It works the same way when a parent sends their child to a charter or private school out of their area; they arrange transportation or drop them off themselves.  It is up to the parent to decide if distance is a consideration in applying to a school further away.

Where did the school board go?:  Then there is the question of what will happen to school boards, and other administrative bodies that run the school districts.  Simply put, they will disappear.  They will no longer be required as the principle and the school staff will gain autonomy over how best to educate their students.  This allows for a more focused education program specific to those particular schools students.  If a parent thinks that the program the school created is garbage then they have direct contact with the principle to advocate for change without the bureaucratic globally gook or they can seek out a different school for their child to attend.  Notice with this option, parents can not only choose from private and charter schools, but from other public schools as well.  More choice for parents in investing in their child’s future is always a good thing.

            Of course oversight will still be required to prevent corruption.  Well Dr. Ben Chaves has the suggestion to create a single school board at the State level.  In the governance roll, the board can provide oversight to ensure there is no discrimination, no theft of funds and no abuses of power.  Best of all the board should be an elected body making them responsible to parents and you thus make them the police of the schools.

 To whom does the money go?:   The second part of making a public school compete is parents only pay taxes to the school their child is attending.  What do I mean by this?  Well, let’s take two schools, Baldwin Senior High School and Freeport High School.  Under the current system if a student in the town of Baldwin is sent to Freeport High School due to proximity, the parent does not pay education taxes to Freeport’s schools as they are forced to pay education taxes to Baldwin schools because they live in Baldwin and not Freeport.  Obviously, under a system without school districts it would be essential for parents to be paying taxes exclusively to where their children go to school and also vote on that schools budget exclusively.  This provides fairness because students should not be a tax burden if they come from a different town as the town should not have to pay extra for an extra student.  Nor should a parent be forced to support a school that their child does not attend.  These parents because their tax dollars are going to a different school have the right to vote in that schools elections giving them the incentive to vote no to the new school budget to reduce their own tax burden while their child is taken care of in a different school. 

 More competition:  Let’s take competition a step further and say if your child is not attending a public school, you pay no school taxes and give up your right to vote in school elections for you are no longer affected when it comes to taxation and the welfare of your child.  Why should senior citizens pay taxes towards education if they don’t have a student enrolled in the school?  Why should parents struggling to pay for an education system when their children are now off to college?  If you have no children, why should you have to pay education taxes and vote in school elections?  Why should a parent sending their child to a private school have to pay for their child seduction twice?  Would in not make charter and private schools more affordable if a parent only had to pay for the education of their child and not a public school they choose not to have their child attend?  A parent should only have to pay for their child and theirs alone.

 Fears in this model:   Some are probably fearful that this will regulate the poor to be educated in public schools.  Well I am not going to say that it is not a possibility.  With those who can afford private and charter schools and those transferring to possibly other public schools, this leaves a select group left over.  Namely those students who could not go to a different school due to finances, behavior problems, a disability that could not be handled at a different school and parental choice.  Some may think concentrating these remaining students in a single place is a bad thing.  Well it is not as it turns public schools into specialists at educating the impoverished, those with behavior problems to enable them to function well in society, and having an environment catered to the needs of what students remain.  Looks wise, it seems terrible, but education wise it allows public schools to customize their programs to meet student’s needs with more dedicated resources.  Thus, these students will benefit from the specialized and catered environment they are given.  

 Minimizing concerns:  If there is a concern about cost then that can be minimized by a voucher system which also enhances school choice.  If only the tax portion is changed I believe that the voucher will cost significantly more and more which will result in more having to be issued.  If just the districts are change, then costs will drop as a large portion of the education bureaucracy will have been eliminated.  In that scenario vouchers will have less of a roll for it will make public schools cheaper regulating vouchers to only the needy and those who want to send their children to a charter or a private school.  If both come true, then schools will become cheaper, the tax burden will be reduced, and fairness and competition will be brought to the system.  Vouchers in that instance become a form of welfare for the poor exclusively.  Though I do not think anyone would be opposed to having donations to schools being written off as charity on their taxes.

Conclusion:   Together we can make public schools compete.  We can do this by making them beg you the parents to put your child in their school for they want your money.  This gives them incentives to create the best programs possible to attract you the parent into sending your child to be educated by them for the price you deem fit.  This is the reason district lines in my suggestion are erased so as to provide schools with the autonomy needed to create the best school programs and the best education possible.  Without school boards and the rest of the education bureaucracy, save the centralized board at the State level, innovation is free to flourish without bureaucratic red tape getting in the way.  Culminated together, parents and students get school choice and those who have no children or their children no longer use the public system will have tax relief and not corrupt the system with their vote during school elections.  With innovation allowed to enter the system, and maximum parental choice applied Americas education system will become the best in the world.