Lots of classical liberals support a system of school vouchers, or some sort of free school system. Such a system exists in Sweden, and - based on available data - produces slightly better outcomes than the old state-provided system. However, for whatever reason (perhaps due to better initial controls), the Swedes have been able to keep the wingnuts out of their system. England (this does not apply in Scotland, perhaps because the Scottish school system outperforms the English one by some margin) has not been able to do this. So weve had the usual run of creationists turning up in schools, unqualified teachers, and now this: theguardian/education/2013/oct/16/faith-school-dammed-by-ofsted-dysfunctional I remember saying (at a Liberty Fund conference no less) that free or voucher schools would last just as long as it took for a bunch of Islamists to start one, get a pile of taxpayers money, and then run what amounts to a madrassah. And so it has come to pass. I used to have a bit of time for Michael Gove, because the man is at least literate and well-read. However, he does not seem to understand that teaching and school administration are difficult to do well, and we now have the sort of political fiasco with which Labour can make hay until the election. And I strongly suspect there will be no free schools after the next general election, regardless of which party or combination of parties wins.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 07:57:56 +0000
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