[MD] Value and the Individual

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting ARLO J BENSINGER JR <ajb102 at psu.edu>:

> [Platt]
> Whoa. Who said we abolished taxes?
> 
> [Arlo]
> I am thinking ahead to the free-market education you envision. Are you saying
> we will still force everyone to pay school taxes? Are you in favor of a mixed
> system of public/private rather than a complete transition to an entirely
> private system?

Naturally there will be a transition phase before all schools become private. 

> [Platt]
> What parent do you know who is going to deliberately send his child to a rotten
> school? What parent do you know who isn't going to try to send his child to the
> best school available?
> 
> [Arlo]
> A lot of wind, but no answer. Certainly parents will send their kids to the
> "best school they can afford", but are you suggesting the quality of all these
> schools will be similar? That the schools Donald Trump can afford will not be
> better than the schools Joe Miner can afford?

Of course not, no more so than they are today. Quality will vary as always.

> What will happen is obvious, schools will congregate along class-lines. Poor
> families that can't afford good schools will get crappy second rate ones (its
> all they will be able to afford). Rich kids will get the best education.

Giving parents a voucher and a choice, schools will compete for students, raising
quality. 

> You keep saying "you don't understand the free market", then explain to me why
> the "free market" has the poor driving old jallopies and the rich driving
> around in Lexuses. Or the poor lodging at Motel 6 while the rich stay at the
> Hilton? Why would it be any different with education?

I never claimed all schools would be, or should be, equal. But they would
be better overall than they are today due to competition.    

> Why would the "free market" provide an equal in quality education for poor and
> rich alike, but not for any other commodity it provides? Or (I ask again), do
> you think having the poor receive lower quality education is natural and right?

Public schools today aren't equal in quality education. In fact, most public 
schools do a lousy job. So what's your point? 



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