Transitioning (from Schools to Education)

I was recently asked:  How would you go about eliminating public schools?

I think we would eliminate public schools in the same way that we would eliminate public oil refineries, and public farms and ranches, and public grocery stores, and… Oh, wait, we don’t have those, do we?

We don’t have those, because we have a market in which people use their own money to buy heating oil, and food, and other things they want and need from private providers; and when people demonstrate that they can’t afford things they need, we give them assistance in the form of money, that they can use to purchase those things, and only those things.

So we would replace public schools with an Education Assistance Program (EAP,), which would operate like all the other assistance programs that we already have, like LIHEAP, and SNAP, and Section 8:

https://granitegrok.com/blog/2019/01/educaid

Following their lead, in the case of education we would pay only for learning (as opposed to goods or services that are intended to lead to learning), and then only after it has been demonstrated:

https://granitegrok.com/blog/2023/12/pay-and-pray-funding

As a transitional period, we could let the public schools continue to operate for some small number of years while parents — and education entrepreneurs — use that time to get their acts together.

It would be the institutional equivalent of methadone — something to help you kick a bad habit, without forming a new one to take its place.

This isn’t the sort of change that’s likely to take place in the next year or two, but the sooner we start seeing bills introduced to move us in this direction, the sooner we can get there, just as with constitutional carry.  What seemed crazy at first now seems completely normal.

I was then asked:  What would a transition bill look like?

I think, as a first approximation, it would look like this:

Whereas

1. 1. Education is a responsibility, and not an entitlement.
   2. Being armed and being educated are the two main tools for resisting a tyrannical government, and so should not be under the control of any government.
   3. There is a right to be educated in exactly the same way there is a right to be armed, so both rights deserve the same level of immunity from government interference, and the same level of government assistance.
   4. A public school system is exactly the kind of monopoly prohibited in Article 83 of the state constitution, which violates the inherent and essential right of the people to free and fair competition in the trades and industries, and from which that right is to be protected.

Therefore

1. 1. It is the responsibility of each parent (or guardian) to direct and fund the education of his own children, with the assistance of family members, friends, and private sources of charity.
   2. If a parent is unable to discharge this responsibility, because he cannot afford the means necessary to bring his children to an appropriate level of literacy and numeracy, he may apply for assistance in the same way that he would apply for assistance with other necessities, such as food, housing, and heat; but assistance for education shall be provided only for actual learning in the areas of literacy and numeracy, and shall only be distributed after demonstration (using appropriate pre-tests and post-tests) that such learning has occurred.
      
   3. The public school system (including both traditional and chartered public schools) in New Hampshire shall be phased out over the course of five years, to give parents time to take over the education of their own children, and to give providers time to enter the market for educational goods and services.  During this period, public schools will continue to operate and be funded in the same was as they are now, except that public schools may offer instruction only in literacy and numeracy, and may offer no electives or extra-curricular activities.  

Of course, this would have to be translated into legalese by Legislative Services, and some details would have to be worked out about how to fund Educaid assistance.  But have I missed anything?

Are there any state reps out there who would run with this?