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This doesn't sound realistic to me ... the only reason healthcare is profitable in America is because not everyone has access; and high-risk, heavy users are routinely dropped or excluded from coverage by those who need to generate profit for shareholders. I am however open to the possibility you suggest ... do you have an example of any program that features universal access and generates a profit for private enterprise?



Hmm. The only examples off the top of my head are non-profit or not-for-profit organizations -- which of course, by definition, are not making a profit. However they are very viable businesses and certainly could become businesses if need be.

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If parents / students were able to decide for themselves where they went to school it would be chaos.



I'm curious why you think it would be "chaos" in such an system. Different, yes. But I'm not seeing the possibility of 'chaos'. Perhaps you could elaborate on your viewpoint, I'm curious to hear it. You give some insight in your following paragraph, but I'm not seeing the level of problems that you are and I may just be missing something.

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It is only because of the existence of the public schools that the private schools can operate differently ... they select who and how many students attend and the criteria on which those decisions are made - arbitrarily and without general oversight; they decide the curriculum and their location, and most importantly, they decide what their operating budgets are. Need/want a higher budget - charge more - no referendums, no accountability to elected officials, no need to worry about the impact of the next municipal election, no need to raise taxes.



Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but private schools have their own body of accreditation, correct? I mean, you know that your children are getting a good, quality education that meets or exceeds state/federal requirements, because a body holds them to that, right?

Now take exactly what you describe -- the ability to set your own curriculum (as long as it meets accreditation), locations, operating costs, prices, etc -- why can't that be done on a much larger scale?

We're talking a fully-privatized system, not accountable to officials or referendums or anything of the sort. With rare exception, only accountable to the free-market. Exceptions being areas where only one school is operating poorly or at high cost and no others are willing to come in.

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How exactly do you educate millions of kids from destitute families within this system?

And how do you provide healthcare to millions of kids from destitute families with a comparable healtcare system?



The whole concept, and I admit that it's totally hypothetical, revolves around the premise that 1> the government will give my tax money back, and 2> people are willing to give their money to support charitable groups.

I picture a reversal of the roles we see today in education where public rather than private schools are the exception. And I'm not claiming to think my way is the best way; I just see a system we have that, frankly, isn't working and only shows signs of getting worse. I'm of the mindset that anything is better than what we've got now and I'm willing to give anything a shot.

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