True; and I agree this is theoretically a nice thing. However the net result of this is that, to take an example, school IT services range from the sublime to

True; and I agree this is theoretically a nice thing. However the net result of this is that, to take an example, school IT services range from the sublime to the dire. Almost all of them are hugely expensive contracts to major firms (say, BT) and tend to consist of poorly paid tech staff (often shared amongst a school district), old out-dated technology and overly-complex infrastructure. At my mum's school, a primary, the teachers had 3 "new" laptops each one year, because they could not get the infrastructure right... This is mirrored across the whole system; no one has a proper budget or equipment recommendations from the DOE. And as a result you get a hit-and-miss situation, with some schools well equipped and others a mess. More often than not teachers will spend out of their own pocket just to be able to adequately teach a subject. Mandating every aspect of education would be bad, I agree. But affirmative action to end the waste, provide support for equipment purchase etc. would be very welcome!