the Utah House of Representatives passed the nation’s first universal school voucher bill (HB 148) in a nail-biting 38-37 vote. From what I hear coming out of Utah, it’s going to pass the Senate next week as well, and be signed by the governor.There are three things that keep me awake at night about current policies in the US: healthcare, energy policy and education. These sectors are the last vestiges of command economies left in the country, they are also the sectors of the economy that most people complain about because they are either overly expensive, low on quality or some combination of both. Fixing the problem seems so abundantly obvious to me (let them compete) I just can't understand why the vast majority of the polity doesn't come to the same conclusion.
Its great news that one state is taking the plunge into competition in education. Yes there are some short comings. One of those shortcomings ($3000/student, half what public schools get) may actually be a blessing in disguise.
Public schools are so over funded this will be an excellent opportunity to show how efficient the market is at supplying superior quality at a lower cost. If the prices were at parity private actors would take the money even if they could do it more efficiently.
I'm very optimistic that the program is going to be a resounding success and that it will spread to many parts of the nation. Too bad we are going to have to wait for a decade or more to get there.
Side note: Telecommunications used to bother me, but the internet and wireless is managing to beat down that command economy quite well. The land line monopoly is very nearly at its end.
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