Choice In Education

I often write about the state of education and my belief that there should be parent and student choice.

The rub becomes what is meant by choice. Should it be limited to a few schools that really are all the same or should education be broader in scope? If you are going to offer choice, the more choices the better. In fact, I am not averse to every school being a charter.

Curriculum should be chosen by the parents, educators, and to some extent students in every school. The state’s role would be minimal. The state should make sure that the teachers are qualified just as they currently do with doctors and lawyers. Schools can operate without monumental regulations from Tallahassee but must be up to a set of basic standards that can easily be monitored.

Each student should have their government stipend sent directly to the student’s school. That amount would cover things everything without exception. The same would go for religious institutions operating schools. If every religion that meets the state criteria wants to operate a school based on religious principles, then why not? It is not unconstitutional. The only thing that is unconstitutional is picking one religion over all others.

There would have to be standardized tests that the students would be required to take and pass for the school to keep its accreditation. Yet it would not necessarily be as detailed as statewide tests have become. If we give individual schools and parents, the right to determine educational objectives then it also comes…