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End the government monopoly on K-12 and force schools to compete for students by funding students, not schools or school districts.The pre-Trump Republicans had problems selling a whole lot of things — like freedom and liberty — but specifically in regard to their failures in bringing true change — and freedom — to public K-12 education.
Put on your selling hat and think about it for a minute. The United States spends more money per pupil than any other country on the planet — over $17,000 per pupil per year. In many places the number is far higher. In New York, it’s an astonishing $33,000 per pupil.
Go to that link and see the averages for your state and remember these are averages for the state. In the large metropolitan areas, it is generally far above the statewide averages.
And what do these large metropolitan areas have in common? They are largely Democrat strongholds and their public K-12 school systems suck. In many states they are high-density liberal sanctuaries which overwhelm the wishes of the vast majority of the rest of the state. Let’s change that.
They are also places where children’s lives are destroyed before they even have a chance. And the poorer a child is, the worse it is.
Yet every President since at least Kennedy has had a plan to “fix” public K-12 education and where are we today? You could staff a small army with the number of people fighting to reform public education.
But most fourth and eighth graders aren’t proficient in math or reading. SAT reports 12th grade reading scores are at a 40-year low. ACT, another college testing service, reports 75% of incoming college freshman are not prepared for college. Only four percent of African-American students graduate from high school ready for college. Forty percent of all college freshmen must take some sort of remedial course work. Fewer than half of college students graduate within six years. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 80 million to 90 million adults — about half the workforce — don’t have the skills required to get or advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.
Our schools are failing even though our country is filled with hard-working, dedicated, and loving teachers, administrators, para-pros, and volunteers.
The only possible solution? End the government monopoly on K-12 and force schools to compete for students by funding students, not schools or school districts. This won’t destroy public education, just change it.
How difficult can it be to sell parents in New York that we want to give them $33,000 per kid per year for their kids education?
Or $18,000 per kid per year for California or almost $22,000 for Illinois or around $20,000 for Oregon and Washington or over $21,000 for Pennsylvania? And this can be done without costing an additional dime!
<img alt="Free image, Pixabay license" captext="Pixabay” class=”post-image-right” src=”https://conservativenewsbriefing.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/how-competition-can-save-education.jpg” width=”450″>Every parent, but especially poor and middle-class parents and children will be lining up for this across the land. And schools — present ones and brand-new ones — will be lining up to offer superior services to these parents.
With this one move Republicans can both save public K-12 education — and thereby the country – and permanently realign the entire political landscape.
There is even a rather straightforward method to accomplish this. I’m not a fan of using the federal purse to blackmail states into doing what we want but it can be very successful. It’s the reason we have uniform Interstate highway speeds and a national 21-year-old drinking age — even though the regulation of alcohol is a state’s right as clearly written in the 21st Amendment.
Here’s the simple path to changing the world:
- Any state or school district that accepts federal educational funds must provide parent-directed funding for their children’s K-12 education equal to at least 95% of the average total per pupil spending of that specific school district or state. The other 5% — or less — can be retained for various administrative and regulatory costs used to regulate this new public education marketplace.
- Parents/guardians will direct how and where this money is spent — at any state-approved school or course provider to purchase any and all learning services and other school-related needs. Unused funds may be retained for future educational services, including post-secondary tuition and fees
- The per-student spending for special needs children will be adjusted as determined by elected state officials, being some multiple(s) of the adjusted average total per pupil spending.
- States will have two years to implement these changes. After that, failure to comply will result in the immediate termination of all federal educational funds until the state complies. This is the stick to force compliance.
Most parents aren’t classroom experts. But they know what’s good for their kids. By giving parents control over the money spent to educate their children, we will:
- Turn parents into consumers in a competitive marketplace, giving them the power to choose the schools their children attend.
- Force K-12 schools to compete for students. Poor-performing schools will either improve or go out of business. And with millions of families to serve, there will be huge incentives for people to create new schools that will do a good job.
- Force schools to treat parents and their kids as customers. Successful schools will be the ones that do the best job of serving the needs of their customers.
This one simple change, which could be implemented right now, will unleash the wisdom of millions as the power of free people freely interacting with other free people transforms public education. Every student will gain, as will almost every teacher. Teachers want to be paid what they are worth? This is guaranteed to accomplish that.
Based on the success of competition everywhere else, this proposal is guaranteed to work. It can be done quickly. And to repeat, it doesn’t cost an extra dime.
We now have a true salesman as President — and I say this as a compliment — so what moral and honorable reason is there for not making this change right now? What moral and honorable reason is there for fighting to keep the same old failing system? I’m not certain our nation can survive the continued output of these failing schools.
Will some states and schools do things you and I might disagree with? Of course. It’s happening now. Freedom can be messy, but competition will quickly winnow the successful from the losers.
A very strong case can be made that most of this country’s problems stem from the failures of public K-12 education. But most of the solutions start there too.
President Trump and the Republicans need to put on their selling hats and save the country by transforming public education. If government-run schools can compete, great. If not, they will be replaced by those that can.
Freedom, and only freedom, will unleash the wisdom of millions. Parents, teachers, children — all will win. Take the bold step of forcing educational freedom in every state in the land. The country will be forever in your debt.
John Conlin is an expert in organizational design and change. He also holds a BS in Earth Sciences and an MBA and is the founder and President of E.I.C. Enterprises. He has been published in American Greatness, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, American Thinker, the Houston Chronicle, the Denver Post, and Public Square Magazine among others.
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