1 What level of education are you talking about???

2 For government to get out of it? All levels. In today's society, the free market will educate people. At the very least, the federal government should have zero to do with education -- the entire department of education at the federal level should completely go away. At the state level, states have no need to run alleged institutes of higher learning -- let the private sector take over -- it will do a better job and it will be MUCH cheaper.

3 While I agree on the advanced education level, I believe that for grades 1-12 our best future is determined by smoothing out cultural and financial differences. Some states place a higher value on education, thus investing in their future while other states have more immediate problems and may not see education as a good way to overcome their current problems. I do not believe that all should go to university nor that all kids should be required to finish high school instead a trade school or apprentice program is more appropriate. I have a personal experience in my family where my brother is not very good with books but is a true artist when working with metal or just about anything "hands on". I also agree that Government is too big. I would vote for any politician that could deliver a 50% immediate cut in everything government followed by a serious program to attack the remaining fat. My problem with free market for education is that free market is "what have you done for me today" and education is long term unfortunately the characteristics are incompatible. It is true that some companies support education but I believe they do it not because they think it is a good long term idea for their company but because it helps them attract and retain personnel in the immediate or very near term. Tough question, this could be debated for a long time.

4 Indeed, it is a tough one, and I'm certainly with you on the trade school and everyone not completing a college education. Right now, through government schools, grade 1-12 education is horrible. They are not educating students -- that is not even their admitted purpose any more. School boards everywhere I have seen are more interested in getting money than educating. Everything is about how much money they can get with zero regard to actual education. That's wrong. To get government out, allow the free market in, but still not leave "the poor" out, how about tax credits? Then everyone has the means to educate, AND the free market allows people to choose what kind of education they want! And still everyone has the opportunity for education.

5 I agree on the money hungry boards. Government, in all forms, is a self growing entity that just keeps getting bigger and bigger and it seems that no one wants to put a stop to it. Schools are no exception. Tax credits are a problem, what about people who do not make enough money to pay taxes, should their kids be denied access to eduction. At some level there must be support, just because a kid is born into a bad situation that should not compromise his possibility to break out if he has the gumption to do it. This is a really tough question for me. I have been really poor, not because I did not want to work, just couldn't make enough to support my family. At that time the Italian safety net kept my kids healthy and educated. Later I became rather successful and have since paid my share and that of 1,000s of others so I feel the pain of high taxes and inefficient government, but what if there had not been public education, and in my case public health services? Before going after education I would rather cut all government infrastructures starting with the publically elected officials. Let's kill their perks, attack pork, make direct and indirect kickbacks a life sentence, fire people who do not do their jobs, and kill any and all subsidies nad/or tax credits. If we are true free market this should not be a problem.

6 I have no problem with a public safety net. In fact, I've got a post wandering about in my mind about the public safety nets. It used to be that the safety net was just that -- a very temporary, barely enough net to keep you alive and healthy. Today, that safety net includes a house payment, better health insurance than most people can afford, and all the food you can eat, even while earning (now completely disposable) cash. Yes, I agree with cutting government almost anywhere. I just think education is one of the currently largest wastes of money. In my area, spending is OVER $10,000 per student. That's just insane.

7 I understand about the 10k per student. It is absurd. My question is whether or not this is where we get the most bang for the buck. I feel education is extremely important particularly for those who happen to be born into the unfortunate situation of financial difficulty (for whatever reason). I would have a hard time supporting a cut to education while congress raises its salary, benefits, etc. or members of appropriations commitees are receiving all kinds of kick-backs. I would prefer taking on the more visible grunge before getting bogged down in a very emotional question like Education.

8 I agree with David. My high school was not the "rich" school so the board didn't really help them with any required purchases like a second gym after ours burnt down. I think the board should be the one that is restricted. The budgets they call for are unbelivable. Also they are going to cut free lunch for those that cannot afford it. The biggest problem with Cabarrus County is the super-idiot err intendent who doesn't know anything about the outside world in Cabarrus County. The kick backs given to certain companies is atrocious. Even worse is the treatment of anyone who is not a teacher. My father, for one, is a high school graduate who couldn't afford to go to college and took a Head Custodian job at my high school. The last real raise he and other support personal got was well over two or three years ago. My father has been working there for over 21 years and will soon make less than a second or maybe first year teacher does. The problem with schools, as stated above, is not the lack of money but where the money goes and how it is used. Perhaps private companies would work, but I am afraid nothing will change in the long run.

9 David, we could certainly agree to cut government. I say start anywhere, but education clearly is just one of a number of HUGE wastes of money. And most of the money that does go into education does NOT go into support or classrooms. Mecklenburg county is "searching" for a new superintendent of schools. Without counting tens of thousands of dollars in benefits, they are STARTING the search with a salary requirement of OVER $300,000. Anyone who doesn't see MAJOR problems with that has no concept of finances, money, or economics.

10 It sounds like none of you attended college, so I can understand the resentment. Free-market schooling would be a haven for corruption and discrimination. Once government was out of it they'd be free to gouge prices. There are plenty of private schools in existence right now. They are over priced and for all intents and purposes monopolies. Without State schools private school tuition would go up even higher. No big corporation are going to subsidize new schools and even if they did few could afford to attend "coca cola U" secondly, to the man who's dad is a janitor, maybe teachers deserve higher wages because they are teachers with college educations, not janitors who are a necessary though less skilled cog in the educational machine. Superintendents, who perform difficult jobs that require a large and specialized skill set, could easily get a job paying the same amount in teh private sector. Surely a group of conservatives doesnt expect a highly talented individual to take a decrease in pay out of the charity in their own heart? lastly, not only is $10,000 dollars a drop in the bucket, but state scholarships to state schools are usually actually discounts that serve only to diminish the profit a state school otherwise would make off of a student. furthermore, i sincerely doubt that you guys, as uneducated hicks, pay $10,000 in taxes to anywhere.

11 Troll, thanks for stopping by and living up to your name. One day you may meet the real world and see how things actually work.