I notice a lot of people saying that the public schools are underfunded. As someone who has watched several public schools go up, I can say for certain that this is not the case. It's a fact that the US already spends much more money per student than most other nations, including Japan (whose educational system we idolize even though the teen suicide rate is fully triple that of the US, with a lot of the blame directly traceable to the educational system).

No, it's not that they're underfunded. It's that the money is misspent. I can't even begin to tell you all of the gross overspending on nonessentials I've seen in newer public schools. And I'm not talking about extracurricular activities, mind you.

I'm talking about vaulted glass ceilings and carpeted floors in the newest buildings when the students have to share textbooks because "there wasn't enough money."

I'm talking about the slashing of accelerated programs to challenge the gifted, while at the same time filling the buildings with wireless networks that no more than 1% of the current students can even use (and probably less than even that), and yet not equipping those same networks with actual educational material such that the most use it gets is Quake deathmatches during study hall.

I'm talking about the misuse of computers in the classroom, not as the teaching aids they are meant to be, but as replacements for actual teaching. The rresult: the "requirement" that each student have one, draining the resources unnecessarily.

I'm talking about school board executives with the use of county cars, when driver's education courses are stuck with older vehicles.

I'm talking about teachers who truly care about their work getting shafted in terms of money, recognition, and respect, while those who are "in it for June, July, and August" aren't accountable for this.

No. There's more than enough money in the public school system; the true problem lies in the corruption in its higher levels. If the school boards would get their heads screwed on straight, you'd find money you never even knew was there, and you'd find it in quantities you'd never imagined.

That's why I'm in favor of vouchers. Because I think competition will force the mismanagement to end. I was a public-school refugee myself. When I realized just how abysmal the public education system in the US really is, particularly as compared to its private schools, I started looking into why. I know where the money is going. Here's a hint: it's not towards the students, and it's not towards the teachers.

I'm hoping that competition will force changes in the public education system. Something has to, because what we have now certainly isn't working. I think the "separation of church and state" issue is ludicrous for two reasons: one, not all private schools are parochial, and two, even those with religious backgrounds often do not allow this to enter into the curriculum (most Quaker schools, for example, don't actually bring religion into any educational aspect of the school). Besides which, if vouchers are withheld from parochial schools, you're then violating separation of church and state again: this time by discriminating because of religion.

And also, I frankly don't think that someone who does choose to spend the money on private school should be forced to pay tuition twice: once for the school the child is attending and once for a school the child will never attend. I fail to see how this is fair, when those who are still in the public education system only pay once, for a school the child is attending.