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Education is an issue that polarizes me internally; it's no wonder it's a hot issue everywhere. On the one hand, a good education is probably the most important thing that children can be given. It benefits them, and it benefits everyone else. On the other hand, it is the parent's responsibility to provide that education! Having a child carries a huge burden of responsibility, and making sure that child is educated is only one aspect of that. Unfortunately, people have gotten into the mindset that because they can have children, it is their right to have children, and if they can't properly raise them, then it's up to the rest of society to do it for them. And we accept this blackmail because that's really what it is: if we don't see that the kids are educated, they become criminals because they are given no other options. Areas with poor schools deteriorate in a downward spiral unless a lot of work is put in to fix the problems. Without a sense that the future holds some value for them, kids have no motivation.
The solution to the problem is not to keep pushing it up the food chain, where more and more of the money goes to bureaucracy instead of education. The solution is to pull it back down to the parents, so they control the education their children are getting.
I'm willing to help contribute to education because it is good for all, and because some poor parents do make good parents (though only the people who actually know the parents themselves can make that call, and really they're the ones who should be contributing if they think the parents are good ones). But still, I don't mind contributing some. Right now, however, fully 50% of my non-federal taxes are going to education. Last year, the education taxes I paid covered the entire cost of an entire child's education, and I have no children. That is an outrage.
It's no wonder people are rebelling over the cost when I no longer own my house --- I have to pay rent to the state (and the rent on my middle of the road house would cover the rent on a low end apartment!) to be allowed to stay in it, and half of that is for education.
Clearly, reform is needed.
In the case of Home Schooling, some might argue that it's another way to scam the system, but as long as the kids are meeting the standards, I don't see it that way. These days, most families have both parents working to make ends meet, and if this allows a parent to stay home and do a better job of raising their kids, that sounds like a win. Note that I only support voucher payments to families below a certain income level. I expect families that can afford to educate their kids to do so and not feed off the public trough. When they send their kids to public school today, that is exactly what I think they're doing, save perhaps the first one that their taxes are paying for.
As for Religious Schools, people claim "separation of church and state!" They clearly don't understand the meaning of that: it's to keep the state from promoting one religion over another. If the parent is making the decision of what school to send the kids to, then the state can hardly be promoting a religion. I'm no fan of religion, but if we truly want separation of church and state, then the state has to stay out of it entirely: not only what religion, but if religion at all as well.