Here in OZ the David Letterman show comes on around 1215am. It is not a show I watch but for some reason I found myself watching the “Stupid Human Tricks” segment. There was a girl, maybe 12, who jumped on a pogo stick and played the violin. Dave made a joke that she should drop out of school, make millions, and tour the world. Everyone laughed b/c, as we all know, school must be attended, roughly 22 years of time spent in a chair leads to a degree, and a degree is synonymous with an education, which inevitably leads to a job. In short, everyone must attend school–there is no other way. Didn’t we learn that in school?
But if we could abolish public schools I can only wonder how different things would be. Lew Rockwell wrote a great article asking and answering this question here. Partly because my kids are entering public school I see this as one of the most fundamental issues, and I think it rips apart families, is akin to slavery, and essentially like prison (maybe worse). (Homeschooling them is something I’m working on.)
In imagining the transition from coerced, public schooling to voluntary, private schooling, Lew wrote:
At first, the new schools will be modeled on the public school idea. Kids will be there from 8 to 4 or 5, and all classes will be covered. But in short order, new alternatives will appear. There will be schools for half-day classes. There will be large, medium, and small schools. Some will have 40 kids per class, and others 4 or 1. Private tutoring will boom. Sectarian schools of all kinds will appear. Micro-schools will open to serve niche interests: science, classics, music, theater, computers, agriculture, etc. There will be single sex schools. Whether sports would be part of school or something completely independent is for the market to decide.
And no longer will the “elementary, middle school, high school” model be the only one. Classes will not necessarily be grouped by age alone. Some will be based on ability and level of advancement too. Tuition would range from free to super expensive. The key thing is that the customer would be in charge.
Transportation services would spring up to replace the old school-bus system. People would be able to make money by buying vans and providing transportation. In all areas related to education, profit opportunities would abound.
In short, the market for education would operate the same as any other market. Groceries, for example. Where there is a demand, and obviously people demand education for their kids, there is supply. There are large grocery stores, small ones, discount ones, premium ones, and stores for groceries on the run. It is the same for other goods, and it would be the same for education. Again, the customer would rule. In the end, what would emerge is not entirely predictable – the market never is – but whatever happened would be in accord with the wishes of the public.
After this phase two, this town would emerge as one of the most desirable in the country. Educational alternatives would be unlimited. It would be the source of enormous progress, and a model for the nation. It could cause the entire country to rethink education. And then those who moved away would move back to enjoy the best schools in the country at half the price of the public schools, and those without children in the house wouldn’t have to pay a dime for education. Talk about attractive!
Entrepreneurship in schooling would lead to creativity and innovation in an area that students often hate yet spend about 1/3 of their lives doing. John Stossel shows some of the possibilities here:
Murray Rothbard has also treated the issue extensively.
