School reformers often spend so much time looking at the details of various proposals that they forget to remind the public of the bigger idea behind the reform. The problem in public schools is a big one -- the entire system is designed on a government-run monopoly model. Such systems have perverse incentives, one of which is the elevation of the needs of those who work for the system above those who are supposed to be its customers. In my column from last Sunday, I reminded readers what it would mean if, say, restaurants were run in the same manner as schools. Obviously, no policy makers are about to advocate the separation of school and state, but thought experiments can be useful as we try to create workable alternatives.
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