It's Time to Play Fair: Lower Taxes, More Choices

Guest post by Lee Todd, Lincoln father.

Few if anyone would disagree the best education possible at a reasonable price, should be the gold-standard sought after goal for our children. Free markets have throughout history demonstrated their value at uplifting the middle class. No one can argue this point. Parents should have more choices to send their children to those schools which can best provide the needs for their child. Public and private should both be given the opportunity to compete in the free market arena. In this way the best schools will flourish. So goes the argument of Milton Friedman the late great contemporary economist.  

Given the incontrovertible evidence private schools are capable of providing a great education at a lower price versus public schools, it is time to truly “level” the playing field. In the state of Nebraska it costs $11,200 per pupil per year to educate a child in the public school system. Private schools usually do as good or better job at ½ the cost.  

Let us please consider this option which would allow more school choice. Any parent wanting to pull their child out of the public schools system could be given 75% (this percent is not fixed in stone but serves an illustrative purpose) of the cost to educate a child in their local public school district. Those funds would follow the child and be given to the parent or guardian of the child, if they choose alternative schooling other than the public school system. In this way parents opting for the private school option or home schooling, would not have to pay for it twice. This they do now, once in property taxes and once again to pay for their child’s private education out of their own pocket.  

What about the “unused” other 25% or roughly $2800 per year? This money could be returned to the tax payer to lower property taxes which the overwhelming majority of Nebraskans agree are much too high.   Another option would be this money could be deposited into the parent or guardian’s educational savings account for post secondary education for the child. Imagine 13 years x $2800 = $36,400 ready for the child to go to college or a vocational school of their choice! Many young men and women could get most of their 4 year university education and certainly 2 years worth on that kind of a grubstake! Hence they would not be shouldered with oppressive post secondary debt when they are not even into their mid 20’s. What a shift that paradigm would be!  

In summary, both private schools and home schools have more than proven their effectiveness beyond any doubt. It is time to level the educational playing field. It is time to play fair. Private and public schools should each compete in a free market that truly espouses free choice. Public schools may have good intentions, but it is the parent who will nearly always have the best interest of their child foremost in their minds. When ALL parents are given the economic opportunity to choose what is best for their child, the child always WINS.