Rethinking Public Education

Abstract

Americans like to choose. We like to choose our grocery stores, our dry cleaners, our auto repair shops, our shoe stores, our coffee shops, our restaurants, our places of worship, our doctors, our dentists, and yes, the places our children will go to school. Any number of factors go into making our choices. Kroger is the closest supermarket to my home and I shop there, but not because of its proximity. I am a fan of their organic food line. I drive about 20 miles to my church on Sunday, not because there are no Christian churches closer to my home, but because I enjoy the pastor, congregation, ministries, and music at my church. I frequent a Starbucks coffee shop 15 miles from my home, not because there is not one closer, but because I love the energy there. I take my suits and my shirts to different dry cleaners; one does a great job with my suits, and the other does a better job with my shirts—I like heavy starch. I have chosen to use the same auto repair chain for the last ten years across three states; the service is okay, but more important to me, their prices are competitive and they have high speed Internet—I can work online while I wait for my car to be serviced. I am assured that my choices are in compliance with legal and industry standards. Further, I am personally satisfied with my choices. If at some point I am no longer satisfied, I can choose to go somewhere else.