On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:51:28 -0600, Morris Dovey wrote:

Your input makes me a bit less resistant to Tim's position that
education should be privatized (but not enough so that I'm willing to
adopt his view without a /lot/ more information).

Private education in this country consists of high end "exclusive"
academies for the rich and schools operated by religious groups. There
are few affordable secular private schools.

And private education for a fee is an unaffordable tax on the poor,
especially if it remains illegal to not send your kids to school. A
tax supported system is the only chance many poor kids have to get a
smattering of education, even if the school quality is low.