Re: private schools
Daniel C. Burton (dburton@ocf.berkeley.edu)
15 Dec 1997 20:28:44 GMT
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n sisa <nesim@soda.csua.berkeley.edu> wrote:
: If Libertarians believe the private sector can do a much better job
: than government, why are you guys enrolled in a public school?
Because as long as the government funds public education, it monopolizes
the market on good education. Private schools do not merely have to offer
an education comparable to public schools to compete; they actually have
to outdo what public schools do at a taxpayer-subsidized cost. Because of
this only private schools that offer a lot more than public schools at a
lot higher a cost exist -- they have to do this to efficiently compete
with subsidized competitors. Something that offered a lower cost
education with less frills would have trouble competing for students with
public schools, so if this is what we want, public schools are our only
option.
With things slanted against them this much, the very existence of private
schools is a wonder. It just shows that the government is incapable
enough of providing for society's educational demands that some people are
willing to pay a lot more for something better.
I came here because of the good Computer Science too. It probably is the
2nd best school in the country for that. (I would dispute the claims that
it is actually better than MIT). I imagine, however, that if there was no
funding for public education, there would probably still be a good
computer science school much cheaper than MIT. Maybe not as cheap as Cal
is now, but definitely affordable, because anyone who gradutes with a BS
in computer science is likely to be able to pay off student loans.
(People might be a little less likely to give loans to someone in say,
Philosophy or Sociology, but that's just the free market at work getting
rid of what we need less of.... Being a philosopher or a sociologist is a
bit more of a privilege than a necessity.)
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