DH> 
DH> There is much good to be said about privatizing the education system,
DH> the only reservation I have is that there are some kids whose parents
DH> caouldn't afford to pay for an education, how would we(or would we, fo
DH> that matter) ensure these kids access to to an education?
 
      While I think you'll find I am as opposed to the concept of taxes
as anyone, I do recognize that taxes, at a much lower level than we
have today of course, are a necessity.  There are certian functions of
government which we must have such as provision of a defense of this
nation against attack by other nations and protection of our individual
citizens rights from encroachments by other citizens. Beyond defense
and law enforcement, I consider education to also be something that
government does have a role in, though a role quite unlike the role it
has today.
      I would like to see a separation of education and state respected
at least as rigioursly as the separation between church and state we
have today, but with one notable exception.  I do believe we, as a
people, ought contribute to the educations of our children.  I consider
our children our most valuable resource and the future of our nation,
and therefore their educations directly benifit us all.
      My own support is lent to a voucher system where each
jurisdition, be that jusrisdiction local, county, or state, collects
and dispurses, without condition, a voucher to the parent of each
school age child.  Educational institutions themselves would be
uncontrolled, unregulated, and unrestrained, subject only to the
continued support of the parents who would be free to select whatever
available school they choose, and, of course, subject to the same civil
and criminal laws any business is subject to.  
      The institutions which exist today as public schools would be
free to continue to operate as publically held corporations if local
communities desired to operate them as such, but their incomes would be
whollely dependent upon the parents of children electing to use those
institutions and the vouchers they obtained without the use of force to
compel attendence.
 
       It was this very issue over which I was denied the Libertarian
nomination for the Texas 25th congressional district in 1996 and
education remains an issue which I am in conflict with the vast
majority of those in my party, but if we can achieve a free market
educational system while, at the same time, affording every child an
opportunity to a quality education, I think we have moved 80% of the
way towards the direction most Libertarians would desire us to go. 
From there, once free market solutions begin to take effect and
demonstrate their powerfully positive impact on education, we can look
further at where we are, where we desire to go, and, based upon the
information we have gathered, make wise decisions about the next step
and the future of education. 
 
                                           /\/\ike
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