In a recent Money Magazine study, private schools rank no better scholastically than comparable public schools. Numerous studies confirm parental education and family income have powerful effects on educational achievement. Public schools have been unfairly discredited in large part by religious right groups who want to undermine public schools in order to promote their highly sectarian private schools. For an example, visit The Children Trap , a guidebook on how to destroy public schools. No proof exists that competition would improve schools.
Markets develop products to satisfy people's tastes or needs according to their ability to pay.
Competition is not fair if the playing field is not level. Poor neighborhoods often lack department stores, grocery stores, banks and other services. Education is a vital public good, and competition is about wiping out your competitor, not making him better. Simply passing public funds through a family does not alter the fact that public money is subsidizing private and sectarian schools. With tuition tax credits, parents use their own money, not the government's.