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Education is about more than just your particular children. We all benefit from a society where people are better educated. (A more informed electorate creates

Education is about more than just your particular children. We all benefit from a society where people are better educated. (A more informed electorate creates a better society.) If the act of pulling your kid from school causes that school to get just a little bit worse, you’re making society just a little bit worse as a result. There’s a similar reason why, in countries that have state-funded health care, you’re not allowed to seek out private doctors or private insurance. The point is to not allow the rich to siphon the best resources away from everyone else. (This is obviously very anti-capitalist, but I think for some institutions like medicine and education, it may make sense.)

fullshark 5y ago
Once you have kids you really don't care about all of that.
- ninkendo 5y ago
  I have kids. The reason I bring it up with an “If I were emperor” qualifier, is that for an individual, it doesn’t make sense to keep your child in a failing public school if you can afford to pull them out. It would take a unified effort of banning all private education, for it to actually improve things. I’m aware it’s a pipe dream right now, and as long as private schools exist, it still makes sense for individuals to use them. It’s similar to the tragedy of the commons… people acting in their own self-interests (better education for my child) create a situation that is worse than if we had a collective strategy (we all get a decent education, and get to share a better, more educated society.)
  - zests 5y ago
    Are you going to ban relocation to a better school district as well? I don't see where the rabbit hole ends.
    - ninkendo 5y ago
      There would ideally be no “better school districts”, because they would receive the same (population-adjusted) funding, and teachers would be paid similarly enough that schools couldn’t unfairly attract the best teachers. Getting rid of all private/charter schools can help with that. So can centralizing the school funding (so that richer districts can’t somehow secure more funding for their school.)

fullshark 5y ago

Once you have kids you really don't care about all of that.

ninkendo 5y ago
I have kids. The reason I bring it up with an “If I were emperor” qualifier, is that for an individual, it doesn’t make sense to keep your child in a failing public school if you can afford to pull them out. It would take a unified effort of banning all private education, for it to actually improve things. I’m aware it’s a pipe dream right now, and as long as private schools exist, it still makes sense for individuals to use them. It’s similar to the tragedy of the commons… people acting in their own self-interests (better education for my child) create a situation that is worse than if we had a collective strategy (we all get a decent education, and get to share a better, more educated society.)
- zests 5y ago
  Are you going to ban relocation to a better school district as well? I don't see where the rabbit hole ends.
  - ninkendo 5y ago
    There would ideally be no “better school districts”, because they would receive the same (population-adjusted) funding, and teachers would be paid similarly enough that schools couldn’t unfairly attract the best teachers. Getting rid of all private/charter schools can help with that. So can centralizing the school funding (so that richer districts can’t somehow secure more funding for their school.)