I see lots of conservatives attacking public schools. So what do you want?

[Not Serious]

An end to public education? I read again and again that public schools are terrible, that they breed laziness and sloppy thinking, that the teachers unions are horrible, etc., etc.

So what do you want? Do you want to abandon the public school system altogether? What's the alternative and why aren't you telling us what that alternative is? Is it that EVERYONE should be home schooled? How practical is that? Is it that the people who can afford private schools send their kids to private schools, while the rest of the kids get no education at all? What are the long term consequences of that policy?

If you want public education to continue to exist, HOW do you want it to continue? Without using any of our tax money? Or in some other way?

If you think teacher's unions are so horrible, how do you suggest compensating teachers outside the union structure? What will assure that we get GOOD teachers into the system, if not their compensation packages?

Please explain--especially those of you conservatives who hate public education.
Dry: OK, I agree. What SHOULD we do? Please explain. All I read about is how bad things are. I'm interested in how to IMPROVE things.
Wow, almost every answer merely repeats the idea with which I started my question: the public school system is in bad shape.

AGREED!

Now tell me how to fix it.
"The parents' fault, the parents' fault, the parents' fault...."

Hey, anyone can play the blame game. For the fifth time, this is a question that asks for SOLUTIONS, not repeated statements about what the PROBLEM is.

 

[B.Kevorkian]

Vouchers are one frequently proposed alternative to the current public school system. Public schools recieve some of thier funding on a per-student basis. In a voucher system, parents who put thier kids in private schools recieve a voucher to help pay for it, instead of the public school getting the money. It creates competition in the system, so involved parents who care about thier kid's education (who are, of course, distinctly in the minority) exert some influence on the quality of that education via a free-market-like mechanism.

Another option, of course, is to forget about public education entirely, and let parents educate thier kids as they choose - and can afford. The social engineering implicit in public education, though, is so deeply ingrained that even most conservatives would balk at that idea.