We kept our kids out of the system completely. I don’t want state money; it will always come with strings. Just make the school funding a voluntary line item in taxes, at least local ones, and allow us to opt out. We lived on one trade income. We found communities for our kids and ourselves (I’m mom and I drove that-it involves a lot of frog-kissing.) We took *responsibility.* Your children are the most important job you’ll ever have and you *can* eff it up. If you outsource it, how much can you really complain? You had a different priority. For some people, that truly is food on the table, and I get that. But, be honest, for how many is it *really* food on the table, rather than “the manner to which I have grown accustomed.”

Eliminate “compulsory.” End that immediately. Allow people to do whatever they want, whether it’s community coops or small-scale group tutoring or paying people you know and trust to take your kids so you can work.

But *don’t take their money.* They *will* tell you what you have to teach, what competence is, and what qualifies as an education.