Separate Education and State
Tulsa World
Letter to the Editor
2/9/2003
As teachers storm the state capital seeking more money for public
education, we see the fundamental problem of the system: politically-
controlled schools. Because of its political nature, we pay more and get
less, and public teachers and administrators become just another special
interest.
While they can fairly claim that they're doing it for the good of the
children, our kids will continue to get a second-rate education, because
in this system, politics will always come first.
The only real solution is to empower parents and even the students (as
they get older and become more responsible for themselves), letting them
control the educational system. This does not mean vouchers.
The trouble with vouchers is that they don't free students from
political funding, and thus will inevitably fail to free students from a
politically- controlled curriculum. He who controls the money controls the
curriculum.
The only legitimate responsibility of government is to protect the
rights of its citizens. A compulsory educational system is necessarily a
violation of rights, and monopolizes the educational marketplace. Just as
there is a separation of church and state, there should be a separation of
education and state.
Only a free and unmonopolized market in education can free our schools
from political control and provide the incentives for quality education.
Michael A. Clem, Tulsa
|
