With no competition for the tax dollars raised to educate the vast majority of children, traditional public schools lack a powerful incentive to improve. And because individual schools lack autonomy, it is arguably unreasonable to hold them accountable for educational performance. Proposals to Increase School Autonomy Some of the proposals for reform of the school system that follow this critique emphasize a vast increase in school autonomy, and would create a competition for the tax dollars devoted to public education. A voucher system would allow private schools to compete with school districts for a state's public school budget. A proposed initiative in Washington State would enable the voters in a school district to privatize the public school system and place complete control over public education with certified teachers.
Home schooling places the responsibility for public education directly in the hands of parents.
But markets are not a perfect means of providing for public education needs. Parents do not have the same incentives to seek cost-effective services as typical consumers. They are spending other people's money to procure public schooling for their children. The payments come from taxes raised by the general public, and the public has a real interest in the success of public schooling and some right to trust that its funds will be well spent. The state therefore has a responsibility to see that children receive an education adequate to the future demands of society and work.