I believe in the state of Indiana we have a two-fold problem - an out-of-control government education system and out-of-control property taxes to match.
Indiana spent $9,640 per student in the 2004-2005 school year. And I can't find printable words to describe our property tax problem. What if I snapped my fingers right now and two things changed? One: Property taxes disappear (yeah!). And to balance the scales, Two: Our government schools were instantly privatized. Yes, every person who had a child would have to find and pay for that child's education.
What if we gave parents the freedom to educate their children as best they could with what means they had? I think all sorts of innovative and good things would happen. More church schools, more home schooling, parents banding together and creating educational cooperatives, inexpensive private schooling options. I think moving the responsibility directly to the parents of children for education would instantly improve our level of education.
In fact, before government education was common in the U.S., we had higher literacy rates then we have today. We are being held back by the near-government monopoly on our children's education. Let us fix these two problems at once. It is time to be free. Free from property taxes and free from mediocre government-run education.
