In my most recent Evolution class we discussed the ongoing fight between the supporters of evolution and those of intelligent design. The battleground exists mainly in schools, where one side tries to make it so their theory is the only one taught.

I am not looking to support one side or another in the public sphere. My belief is that such a question should not be answered by the public.

For instance, I don?t think it is necessary to have a fight over sexual education in high schools. In fact, there should be no official stance on such an issue made by the government.

Where am I going with this? Well, the only way I think we can remove these problems from the public sphere is to privatize the education system.

In such a system, it would not be up to government to decide what is taught. Each school would be independent of the government, and parents could choose a school on the basis of what they want their children to be taught.

As far as paying for the system, we would simply subsidize every child in a family so that she can attend a school. Therefore, parents would be sending their children to a private school on a government voucher.

If a school costs more than the given subsidy, it is the choice of the parent to pay the difference. This would allow the system to remain equitable while at the same time injecting it with competition.

Parents would choose from a variety of schools. Any given school would not have guaranteed enrollment nor would they have to accept every student.

Competition among schools as well as competition among students would raise the quality of both.

Issues concerning what should be taught in a classroom would remain in the domain of each individual school, and any dissenting parent can simply attempt to change that school?s curriculum or move their child to a school whose curriculum they agree with. If that is not possible, they can home-school their child.

So, if John and Jane Q want to send their daughter, Susie Q, to a school where they teach creationism and abstinence-only sexual education, that?s their prerogative. If Susie gets an STD or pregnant because she was ignorant of safe sex methods, tough.

Likewise, if they want to send her to a school that teaches evolution and shows everyone how to put condoms on a cucumber, so be it. If she becomes sexually active beyond the level her parents want her to be, at least they know she?ll hopefully use protection.

Either way, Susie Q?s development will remain the sole responsibility of her parents? choices.

It is not the responsibility of the government to raise children. That power remains with parents. A privatized school system would maintain parental choice but also allow the government to keep the system equitable.

As a side note, if a privatized school system were properly implemented, you would see costs go down, teacher salaries go up, and proficiency levels sky rocket.

And, we would no longer have to worry about hare-brained politicians trying to influence how children are taught. Instead, they can remain at the feeding trough.