Ohio’s school choice bill represents an appropriate level of progress toward a free education system.
Choice is good.
Like several other states, Ohio currently has a school choice bill pending in the state legislature. In this practical libertarian’s view, this is just the right level of incremental change toward freedom in education.
The purpose of this post is not to discuss the merits of HB 136 as opposed to other school reforms that could be undertaken, but anyone interested in a description of HB 136 can read one here. The core of the bill is an expansion of a tax credit available to parent who pay tuition to approved non-government schools.
Instead of debating HB 136 per se, I want to use it as a backdrop for a larger philosophical discussion. Kiran Soni, a friend of mine from my Miami Law days, posed the following question to me awhile back (excuse her Facebook shorthand):
I gotta a q for your libertarian self. IF public programs from education to welfare did work as they advertise and help people rise up out of poverty onto bigger & better things, would you support them?
For those who aren’t aware, the general libertarian view is to close government schools and privatize education. Thus, Kiran is asking whether I support the standard libertarian ideological position.
Many of you may be surprised, then, that I am a strong supporter of government schools, and my position is not inconsistent with my libertarian political beliefs.
No, I’m not reverting back to my attorney days, and trying to slip one past you with forked-tongue argumentation.
Look at the first sentence of the piece and notice that I qualify “libertarian” with “practical.” In my opinion, a true libertarian world is a vision I hope for some future generation. Practically speaking, all I wish for my generation is to deliver to my son a country that is a little more libertarian than the one delivered to me by my parents. My libertarian vision tells me what direction to go, but it is not the objective I plan to reach.
Practically speaking, the world isn’t ready for a libertarian world. America must be culturally libertarian before libertarian governance could be successfully implemented, and most modern-day Americans lack the moral compass and fortitude for self-reliance. A radical plan to privatize most—if not all—government functions in the present day would leave a vacuum destined to be filled by something far worse than what we have now.
In other words, I don’t want anything close to a true libertarian system right now because it would fail miserably. Think of two hikers who want to cross a deep valley. I suggest we go step-by-step; the other decides to jump across the chasm. Take a guess who goes “splat!”
Education is a perfect example of an area well-suited for incremental improvement. Knowledge is power, and education is one of the cornerstones of a libertarian culture. It is clear that many, many parents would neglect their children’s education without government schools. So to answer Kiran’s question, in the case of government schools, I do indeed support them because they offer the hope of rising out of poverty to millions of children who would otherwise receive little or no educational guidance, and live out their lives dependent on government instead of themselves.
Practical considerations aside, I consider myself a constitutionalist as well as a libertarian. Governments should do no more—and no less—than what is required by their constitutions. The U.S. Constitution forbids the federal government from interfering in States’ exclusive jurisdiction in the arena of education. In Ohio, however, the State government has a constitutional duty to encourage schools. From Article I, Section 7 of the Ohio Constitution:
[K]nowledge . . . being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass suitable laws . . . to encourage schools and the means of instruction.
Thus, education is part of Ohio’s “social compact,” unlike the national social compact. It would be inconsistent for me to insist that the federal government abide by the Constitution, but not do the same for the State. (See my rant here for the president’s perverse conceptualization of our national social compact.)
One criticism I have heard of school choice is that taxpayer funds are used to pay for private institutions. Looking back at the Ohio Constitution, it does not say anything about government schools, so that’s a non-starter here. In any event the argument is a red herring. Food stamps are used to purchase food at private grocery stores. The government buys guns to arm law enforcement from private manufacturers. Heck, governments give grants to private artists to create whatever works they wish! If taxpayer funds go to private schools it is of no consequence whatsoever.
Final Thoughts
HB 136 is an incremental step in the direction of a truly free education system in which no one is compelled to attend, or coerced into paying for, government schools.
How will we know when it is time to close government schools? My answer will frustrate impatient libertarians, and those who want clear signposts: Government schools should remain open until we no longer need them. Right now government schools fulfill an important role in our society, and the (mostly) excellent teachers provide a wonderful opportunity for many children who would receive no such opportunity from their caregivers. Libertarians who support immediate closure of all government schools are putting the cart before the horse—an ignorant society will never blossom into the libertarian culture I hope we attain in some future generation.
And that’s why I support HB 136 and vigorously oppose closure of government schools, yet remain ideologically consistent with my libertarian philosophical beliefs. Call it a heavy dose of political realism.
(This article is also posted at The Country Thinker.)