Separating Education & State

By Michael S. Metti

We've tried free government schools, now we should try government free schools

California's politicians will spend $8,500 per student this year. The next time you visit a public school classroom with an average class size of 32 children, see if you can guess where the $272,000 is spent. The funding of education is collected through various tax schemes. Federal and State Income Tax, Sales Tax, Property Tax, City Taxes, County Taxes, Business Taxes and lottery money. Do you know how much you personally pay for education each year or for that matter in your lifetime? Probably not, and that's just the way the politicians like it. Can you imagine buying anything and not knowing how much it will cost or for how long you'll have to pay?

Government run education is not a good value financially, practically or morally. We need to put educational choices back into the hands of parents while making it affordable. It is time to separate Education and State. This will create competition in education so that parents can have limitless choices and lower costs. It will also help to reduce the cost of government for those who have no children and those who have chosen alternate education for their children.

The number of School Bond Initiatives has proven to us that the educational bureaucrats cannot maintain school buildings and should be dismissed from their role as property managers. So to that end, I propose that we enable ourselves to sell off school buildings and put the money into trusts. Sign five to ten year leases with the new owners whose responsibility it will be to maintain the buildings. The revenue from the invested trust money will be used for lease payments. The new owners should receive all revenues tax-free.

I would also propose tax credits for those who wish to find alternative education for their children. I see this as the first step to ending government involvement in education and relieving the tax burden imposed upon us all.