Let Public Schooling Respond to the Challenge

   Instead of fighting to decide if should have more private schools as opposed to public schools, make them both better.Yes, it is true private schools have outperformed the public variety. But rather than just accepting that the private model is better, let the public schools respond to the challenge and improve their own product.

   Utah is embroiled in a controversy over proposed legislation to expand public funding of private and home schooling. Perhaps the bill, HB215, should be approved. Let the parents vote with their feet, so to speak. If they choose to send their children to a "private" school, let them -- and let the government funding follow them in that decision.

   I put "private" in quotation marks because if the funding is coming from the government, the "private" schools are not so private anymore. They become hybrids.

   But, what is important is not where the children are taught, but how well. Competition often brings improvement. In essence, the public schools now find themselves competing for school enrollment -- a thing they never had to face before the arrival of private schools and home schooling.