Proposition 103

Last week, I got a little blue book in the mail talking about Propostion 103. This particular proposition seeks to increase state income tax from 4.63% to 5% and state sales tax from 2.9% to 3% in order to increase state funds for public education. For me, someone who is a big believer in education being the best way to ensure a "better tomorrow," I would at first look think this proposition was a good idea. More money for education can't possibly be negative, right? But then as I read further in to the booklet, and thought more about it, this actually seems really stupid to me. There is no plan as to how the money is going to be disbursed, so for all we know, the estimated $2.9 billion over the next 5 years could go to administration (which we have seen happen in the past, may I remind you) or union activity, or a number of other things that are never ever seen in the actual classroom. This got me thinking about the article we read for class a couple of weeks ago that considered a life without government and how this could relate... What is all education was privatized? I personally think this would be revolutionary and a great way to enhance our education system. I know it would be difficult to change, and I surely can't even begin to think of all the millions of details, but a voucher system seems like it would be the perfect way to start it so that gradually and eventually, privatization would be reasonable. People who don't have children or care about education (gasp!) would not be forced to fund it, but I still think there are enought people, like myself, who would still be willing to help pay that it would still be feasible. The increased competition would surely cause education to improve because schools would be forced to step up since parents would now have the choice as to which institution their child/ren attend. Creating a market for education seems kind of nuts because it's something we can't even really begin to imagine since we've never seen it before, but it does seem quite beneficial to me. Too bad I'm never going to be president ;-)