Sick Day

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
--Pink Floyd

The dysfunctional US public school system fosters chronic finger pointing (recent example here). It's the teacher's fault, the parent's fault, the student's fault, the facility's fault, etc. The roundrobin repeats itself in Groundhog Day fashion. Each year, capital by the hundred$ of billions is thrown down the black hole of public school systems with little to show for it.

Such an outcome was easily predictable, and in fact was forecast by the movement's opponents from the outset of the public school endeavor.

Let's see what we had early on. Some number of children and/or their parents unwilling to trade money for schooling at the market rate. Progressives like John Dewey and feminist groups who envisioned 100% of the population educated as part of their plan for society. And politicians who were willing market makers with special interest groups. Favors for votes.

The public school bureaucracy was born. It was decided early that the State would put facilities in the ground to support this initiative (rather than merely subsidize attendance at privately run schools). This significantly expanded the scope of bureaucracy to include operations as well as administration.

The universal consequences of bureaucracy were thus ensured and magnified. Rising costs. Poor quality. Reduced innovation. Facilities decay. Why? Most buyers were unmotivated participants, thus they could not provide market signals based on their choices and taste preferences. And the providers were largely shielded from competition by the State funded publics schools--which essentially amounted to a grant of monopolistic franchise.

One need only look at the chasm between public and private schools to spot the difference. In many ways the public school option served to segment the market. Willing buyers seek motivated providers in the private school sector and often pay a premium price for the services rendered. Unwilling buyers are left with an unmotivated public option funded by taxpayers.

Am pretty sure this is not what the reformers envisioned a hundred years ago but the outcomes were predicatble nonetheless.

There is little motivation for entrepreneurs to innovate at the 'low end' of the market because of the public school's monopoly position. Sadly, we've lost many years of innovation potential in this segment.

It is hard not draw parallels between this situation and what might come to pass should the proposed health care bill become law. We can forecast a couple of certainties a) efficiency and standard of living will fall, and b) a new ocean of ink will be spilled to write columns pointing fingers at various factions of a burgeoning health care bureaucracy.