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[quote=Anonymous]I will grant this assumption, with gladness: it is good that a K-12 education is open and free to all, and we need to make that education as good as it can be.

However, I don’t think requiring everyone to enroll in public schools is going to fix the public school system, not to the degree that the author hopes.

The author assumes that well-off parents and those with a family culture that values education are going to transform the schools, if they will all just participate. But there are two barriers to this taking place. First, It is unclear that there are enough private school families to tip the scales very much. Second, these students live disproportionately in districts that already have flourishing public schools. If forced to enroll in public school, many of those in struggling districts would move. So you wind up with the same thing you started with: well-off kids with educationally-conscious families concentrated in the same geographic locales, and less well-off kids trapped in comparatibely worse schools.

It is also very unclear to me that my parental participation in the public schools is welcome. If I show up and offer to teach classes, try out new ideas, or write a  math and arts-centered curriculum, can I actually implement my vision for my child’s education? Nope -  parent participation means baking cupcakes. So I find little reassurance that enrolling my kids in the local school and volunteering all my time there will result in substantial policy changes.

Removing the option to enroll in private schools or home school also removes the power of parents to educate their children in an environment that discusses particular religious/philosophical values, which is a blow to the ability of parents to pass on their culture. That is draconian, esp. in a nation this diverse. It also removes the ability of parents to address special needs and interests their children have. I do not care how wonderful  the schools are  -- the local school still might not be the right environment or have the right pedagogy for a particular student. You can’t make a model that serves everyone equally well; it is impossible. So let parents bow out if the system is not working in their interests and they can find an alternative. Education is not about making every student support the system, it is about educating the student! The system exists for the kids, not the kids for the system!

A final point – what benefits the country is an educated populace with social values who will give their resources back to the common good. If you can produce more people like this with a diversity of schools, compared to universal enrollment in the publics, then the public systems may actually benefit from the persistence of educational choice.

We all do this through taxes. And I am happy to pay them. Additionally, people could be encouraged to help out, even if they enroll their children elsewhere. I would be very happy to help out in a classroom down the line, tutor, mentor, or even design a class in subject (if they'd let me). I don’t know if other parents are as willing, but I like to think other posters here would contribute their time and expertise, if the publics wanted it. We all value education, do we not?

Just don’t tell me I have to send my son to any school, no questions asked. His job is to grow up and be formed. The volunteer work is his mother’s and father’s responsibility.[/quote]

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