This article appears in the November 2008 edition of the Lehigh Patriot.
www.lehighpatriot.com
Education plays a critical role in every nation’s development. Just as leaders today make decisions based upon their past education, the leaders of tomorrow will formulate their actions based on what they learn today. Our future depends on the education of today to produce a well-informed and educated generation.
The problem is, this isn’t happening. Americans are being misundereducated. (Yes, I just created this word. It works; think about it.) Even the politicians can agree on this, yet they aren’t really working on fixing anything. In international testing, the United States ranks below most other developed nations. The question that citizens and politicians both need to answer is: How do we repair America’s education system?
A good education is one of the best indicators of a person’s financial and emotional well-being in life. In addition to a higher income, well educated people divorce less, are less likely to smoke, and are less likely to have physical or mental health problems. When you apply these facts to a nation of over 300 million people, the effects are astounding. Children develop better when they have both parents available. Cigarettes cause an estimated 440,000 premature deaths each year, and each year tobacco products cause an estimated $150 billion in medical care costs and lost productivity(1) . Minimizing these problems and maximizing the benefits of a better-educated populous will result in exponential advancement of our society in the future.
First, the inequality in the system means that good students often get stuck in bad schools with no other recourse to find a better education. There are millions of students attending inner-city schools with great potential to learn, grow, and succeed who aren’t given the chance. Quite simply, their schools lack the proper learning environment. The current environment breeds underserved students and teachers who eventually learn not to care. Businesses that fail to provide adequate services to their customers go bankrupt. But when it comes to education, the government requires students to “buy” a poor product whether they want to or not. The proposition they provide is: attend the failing, inadequate school or pay thousands per year to switch.
Second, the current system does not incentivize well-qualified people to become teachers. Both Senator McCain and Senator Obama support higher pay for teachers in an effort to combat this issue(2)(3), but that won’t work by itself. Too many inept teachers who are firmly entrenched in the current education system have secured their jobs through tenure. This presents a huge barrier to the influx of good teachers. A single weak link in the process of educating children inhibits all teachers’ ability to educate.
Finally, the third problem, which actually causes the other two, is that the system lacks competition. Each public elementary and secondary school in this country is effectively a monopoly. Compared to free markets, monopolies often provide expensive yet inferior products. Anyone who has used Microsoft Windows Vista can experience the pain of inadequate competition first hand. Money can’t fix this problem in education,
Believe it or not, we do have an example right here in the United States that illustrates how well competition can improve education. The higher education system of the United States thrives on competition. For hundreds of years, Ivy League schools have been competing against each other for students. It is no coincidence that, for many years, these same schools have been providing the premier education in the world. In fact, the entire higher education system in the United States is the best in the world.
The United States has a tradition of personal freedoms that is the very foundation of this country. But, in education, the government does not act in accordance with that principle. For every other product, if a customer receives an inferior product item, they can return it and shop somewhere else. If your doctor doesn’t stick the needles in the right place, you can switch doctors. If your local grocery store sells moldy bread, you can shop somewhere else. These freedoms and the free market are the reason why the U.S. is where it is today. But, when it comes to education, only those who have thousands of dollars to spare every year can switch. This monopolistic system that throws competition out the window is the cause of inferior education in America, and it is what we must revamp.
The solution to failing educational systems is simple: eliminate the monopoly. Let schools compete for students through a voucher program or a tax credit program. This seems scary: Democrats fear that already troubled schools will fail further, and that the whole system will dissolve into chaos. Opponents call school vouchers “a dangerous experiment.” But this is effectively the way that businesses in the U.S economy have been running for over 200 years. That dangerous experiment worked out fairly well. A transition to school choice won’t be quick, easy, or without flaws, but it will be worthwhile. To illustrate this, just look at where the United States ranks in education. When the
Finally, school choice would also work to inject the education system with more qualified teachers. As mentioned earlier, the current system does not encourage competent people to become teachers. School choice would increase competition, and force schools to spend more money on the most important resource in education: strong teachers. With increased competition for above average teachers come higher wages, and quite simply a more attractive job offering. Changing the teachers in the system would take time, but this is one problem that the government simply cannot solve without the help of free markets.
The end of the argument for school choice links right back to the beginning. Many of the large problems in America today – crime, poverty, drug use, and smoking – are caused, in large proportion, by a lack of education. Improvements in education will bring improvements in those areas too. Even small decreases in crime, drugs, and smoking, along with an increase in efficiency and productivity that results from improved education will net our country billions of dollars over time. Include with that monetary bonus of improved relationships between different classes and races brought about by a better-educated populous, and the rewards clearly justify the risks.
School choice has been an argument of contention in Washington. The American Federation of Teachers, AFT, is a 1.4 million member strong union that opposes school vouchers and generally supports Democrats(5). With 1.4 million votes with which to lobby, Democrats will not make the decision that needs to be made. They rely on the ambivalence of the American people to protect them as they cash in on support from those who benefit from keeping a failing system in place. Unless people stand up on principle and speak out overwhelmingly in favor of school choice, little will be done in the near future and our nation’s problems will continue to grow.
(1): http://no-smoking.org/may02/05-10-02-2.html
(2): http://www.johnmccain.com/
(3): http://www.barackobama.com
(4): See figure 2 and figure 3 sources
(5): http://www.aft.org/
The problem is, this isn’t happening. Americans are being misundereducated. (Yes, I just created this word. It works; think about it.) Even the politicians can agree on this, yet they aren’t really working on fixing anything. In international testing, the United States ranks below most other developed nations. The question that citizens and politicians both need to answer is: How do we repair America’s education system?
A good education is one of the best indicators of a person’s financial and emotional well-being in life. In addition to a higher income, well educated people divorce less, are less likely to smoke, and are less likely to have physical or mental health problems. When you apply these facts to a nation of over 300 million people, the effects are astounding. Children develop better when they have both parents available. Cigarettes cause an estimated 440,000 premature deaths each year, and each year tobacco products cause an estimated $150 billion in medical care costs and lost productivity(1) . Minimizing these problems and maximizing the benefits of a better-educated populous will result in exponential advancement of our society in the future.
This much everyone can agree upon. Democrats and Republicans alike agree that our education system is broken, and that rebuilding it is vital to the current and future success of our nation. Where they disagree, however, are the means by which to make this happen. However, before we can aid the failing education system, we need to understand why it is ineffective. In this case there are three main problems.
The Three Main Problems
This lack of choice provides unequal rights since your education is based upon how much money a family earns. Families who are well off and live in a bad school district can pay to send their children to private school. Meanwhile, a neighboring family that lives paycheck to paycheck will have no other option but to send their child to that failing local school. Over generations, the better-educated family gradually acquires more wealth, while the poorly educated family must continue on a path of low-paying menial jobs. When you look at the inequality between classes and races, a recurring theme with the Democrats, the cause is the inequality in education.
Second, the current system does not incentivize well-qualified people to become teachers. Both Senator McCain and Senator Obama support higher pay for teachers in an effort to combat this issue(2)(3), but that won’t work by itself. Too many inept teachers who are firmly entrenched in the current education system have secured their jobs through tenure. This presents a huge barrier to the influx of good teachers. A single weak link in the process of educating children inhibits all teachers’ ability to educate.
So let’s look at education as a group assignment. The assignment is to educate the students, and each group member (teacher) takes a specialized task along the way. If everyone is competent, this will work magnificently. But as I mentioned before, the system has bad teachers entrenched throughout the school. Intelligent people avoid these groups (education systems) at all costs. No one wants to teach calculus to students who don’t understand algebra.
Finally, the third problem, which actually causes the other two, is that the system lacks competition. Each public elementary and secondary school in this country is effectively a monopoly. Compared to free markets, monopolies often provide expensive yet inferior products. Anyone who has used Microsoft Windows Vista can experience the pain of inadequate competition first hand. Money can’t fix this problem in education,
because more money does not provide an incentive to succeed. Empirical data backs this up, as seen in Figure 1.
Believe it or not, we do have an example right here in the United States that illustrates how well competition can improve education. The higher education system of the United States thrives on competition. For hundreds of years, Ivy League schools have been competing against each other for students. It is no coincidence that, for many years, these same schools have been providing the premier education in the world. In fact, the entire higher education system in the United States is the best in the world.
The United States has a tradition of personal freedoms that is the very foundation of this country. But, in education, the government does not act in accordance with that principle. For every other product, if a customer receives an inferior product item, they can return it and shop somewhere else. If your doctor doesn’t stick the needles in the right place, you can switch doctors. If your local grocery store sells moldy bread, you can shop somewhere else. These freedoms and the free market are the reason why the U.S. is where it is today. But, when it comes to education, only those who have thousands of dollars to spare every year can switch. This monopolistic system that throws competition out the window is the cause of inferior education in America, and it is what we must revamp.
The Solution
The solution to failing educational systems is simple: eliminate the monopoly. Let schools compete for students through a voucher program or a tax credit program. This seems scary: Democrats fear that already troubled schools will fail further, and that the whole system will dissolve into chaos. Opponents call school vouchers “a dangerous experiment.” But this is effectively the way that businesses in the U.S economy have been running for over 200 years. That dangerous experiment worked out fairly well. A transition to school choice won’t be quick, easy, or without flaws, but it will be worthwhile. To illustrate this, just look at where the United States ranks in education. When the government sets up a monopoly, the U.S. is 20th among developed nations. When the free market runs education, the U.S. has the best education in the world(4).
The problems that I’ve mentioned will be solved at varying rates. Most importantly, inequality in education would be eliminated. With a school choice program, parents who live in underperforming districts could send their children to a better school. Just like that, students stuck at an inadequate school would be able to go elsewhere. Families that value education and children who want to learn will be able to, instead of being trapped as a capable student in a failing school.
Also, the lack of competition would, by definition, be solved. Currently, some competition exists in private schools, but it is such an expensive alternative that it is not a consideration for most ordinary families. Interestingly, many D.C. politicians opt to send their children to private schools. The increased competition provided by school choice would force schools to improve their education quality, and steadily improve the state of American schools.
Finally, school choice would also work to inject the education system with more qualified teachers. As mentioned earlier, the current system does not encourage competent people to become teachers. School choice would increase competition, and force schools to spend more money on the most important resource in education: strong teachers. With increased competition for above average teachers come higher wages, and quite simply a more attractive job offering. Changing the teachers in the system would take time, but this is one problem that the government simply cannot solve without the help of free markets.
The end of the argument for school choice links right back to the beginning. Many of the large problems in America today – crime, poverty, drug use, and smoking – are caused, in large proportion, by a lack of education. Improvements in education will bring improvements in those areas too. Even small decreases in crime, drugs, and smoking, along with an increase in efficiency and productivity that results from improved education will net our country billions of dollars over time. Include with that monetary bonus of improved relationships between different classes and races brought about by a better-educated populous, and the rewards clearly justify the risks.
School choice has been an argument of contention in Washington. The American Federation of Teachers, AFT, is a 1.4 million member strong union that opposes school vouchers and generally supports Democrats(5). With 1.4 million votes with which to lobby, Democrats will not make the decision that needs to be made. They rely on the ambivalence of the American people to protect them as they cash in on support from those who benefit from keeping a failing system in place. Unless people stand up on principle and speak out overwhelmingly in favor of school choice, little will be done in the near future and our nation’s problems will continue to grow.
Education plays such a vital role in a child’s development that people need to stand up for their rights. School choice is far too important for our nation’s success for it to be in the hands of unions comprised of largely inept educators and the vote-seeking politicians who pander to them.
(1): http://no-smoking.org/may02/05-10-02-2.html
(2): http://www.johnmccain.com/
(3): http://www.barackobama.com
(4): See figure 2 and figure 3 sources
(5): http://www.aft.org/
