Privatizing Public Education

Since the mid 1800s, the government has stepped up its role in education. States government started funding for education because the reformers believed that education should not be reserved to the riches. Public education has given millions of students a chance to learn and to have better life in the future, and many did take advantage of such system and bettered their well-being. However, public education is getting worse and worse. Our standard now is lower than that of twenty-years ago. The politicians, who know this problem for long, have done little to solve it. The new No Child Left Behind program does not seem to do the job as well. Public Education has proved its worth already, and it is time for it to go....

I am one of the beneficiaries of American public system. I take the hardest classes, try my best, and succeed. I am now going to a good college. However, not only does the school have to offer such hard classes, it also has to have students like me to sign up for the classes. The majority of kids isn't taking such advantage.

My school has three levels of classes - GT/AP, Honors, and Standard. What ends up happening is that a hierarchy is created, with the most students taking Standard classes and the least students taking GT/AP classes. The GT kids, as they are called, are motivated and eager to succeed. The Standards kids are lazy, and unwilling to try.

We also have to question what we learn in school. In my Honors English class, we have very few work. I honestly say that I have not done 10 homework seriously because there is no accountability. Writing is not valued. I haven't written 10 serious essays in these three quarters. Reading is not that important either. I also confess I haven't read a lot. If Honors is like this, what would Standard be like?

Let's talk about math. I am lucky that I am in Calculus. Not only have I gotten the best math education in the school, I also can earn college credits. However, because the graduation requirement level is pathetic (Algebra1,2 and Geometry), many students stop after taking three math classes. Math is an integral part of thinking. It trains our reasoning and logic skill. If students are not taking math, they will lack such skills.

The government has tried pumping in money to the system. Better schools are built; there are more equipments. However, the students aren't getting any better. It is time for the government to loosen up the "monopoly."

I have a tentative plan for privatizing education. I do not suggest that the government totally privatizes education, but I suggest giving private organizations control of some schools we have now (since we have the building already). That is how i want to start.

The privatized schools (I use "privatized" because they are newly privatized schools. they are different from the private schools that have been around for years.) compete for funding on a merit-based standard. If the school overall achieves (like meeting a certain standard), the government awards the school funding which it can use freely in promoting its standard more. Of course, the school does not function solely based on the award. There is where I propse a grant/scholarship system for the students to motivate them to succeed.

Because there are still public schools around, the students can choose to go to a privatized schools or stay. When they decide to try the new school, the government gives the family the necessary funding needed for the first few years. After that, the grant begins to work as a scholarship which students have to work hard to earn it (The first few years are time for them to get acquainted with the school). If the students are not doing well one year, the government cuts back some of the funding (punishment). If the students are not doing well consistently, their funding is gone, and the parents have to pay the education themselves.

The parents, in this plan, should have considerable latitude in choosing the schools. Also, because there is money involved (grant), the parents can motivate the kids to care more about their education. Part of the problem with our current education system is that parents don't much participate in their kids' education. They expect the school to take all the responsibility of the kids' failure. This is a wrong concept.

Question comes, how to define doing well for individual students? I believe that the schools can make up their own curriculum and set up the standards themselves.

How can the schools get the awards? I think in this section the government sets up the rules. However, the award money should not be too much that every school covets. It should be more like an intrinsic goal for the schools to achieve (the honors) rather than an extrinsic goal (actually getting the money).

Also, if the school doesn't get the award and it is in financial difficulty, the government should have money ready to give out to the school. The award system is not to punish the schools financially, I repeat.

After talking about the plan, I would like to talk about its current disadvantages. Many non-believers would not like the idea because most of the time, they argue, the schools would be controlled by parochial or religious organizations, and it violates the principle, or rather, the tradition, of seperation of church and state. Well, I do not intend that they will end up being parochial. However, every demoniation of Christianity or any religious or social group has the right to operate the schools. Therefore, the schools are not reserved for the Catholic Church only.

Another problem is that my plan might force the students to work hard. It is stressful for the students. Well, life is not easy. Those students can still go to public schools where they are not subjected to any academic evaluation. However, I think that education is important. And to get a good one, I believe everyone shold put in personal time and motivation. They may be very stressed, but in the long run, it is going to pay off. It is better than going to school and learn absolutely nothing for years.

This plan is very tentative, and I sometimes think that it is just a dream or a fantasy... Anyone who reads this should give me some comment. I really want to have some feedback on this one