Commentary (Boston Globe)
Mr. Jacoby argues that while cultural aspects are also critical in discussing academic achievement, bad schools in which so many minority children are trapped are part of the problem. He proposes:
"So maybe it's time to try a really radical reform: choice. Education policy in the United States treats Americans as too incompetent to provide for their children's schooling. Unlike food or clothing or health care - where the market generates lots of options and parents are free to choose among them - education is mostly supplied on the Soviet model: Schooling is 'free,' but the schools are owned and operated by the state. A small fraction of parents pay to educate their children privately, but the great majority simply take what the state supplies. The public education system is essentially a monopoly, and like most monopolies, it wastes money, performs indifferently, and doesn't much care if its customers - American mothers and fathers - are satisfied."
Mr. Jacoby argues that choice and competition have led to revolutionary advances in virtually every other area of modern life, yet public education remains essentially unchanged from 50 or even 150 years ago. We agree, and liberals block such reform even though 57% of blacks (and 70% of those with schoolkids) support it.
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