Maybe I missed it, but this proposal should include home schooling as well.
Thirteen large would go a long way at home. And it would afford the usual benefits of home schooling (or unschooling).
The author is correct - government schools are a major reason this country is in the trouble that it is.
That was my first thought as well. Where it gets dicey is if the student wants to participate in a public or private school's athletic or any of the arts (including music) programs. Those programs have to be funded. Do the parents get some funding for books, etc. and the school get some funding for the athletic or arts program the student uses?
Government schools were just fine, as long as they were locally controlled. But once ANY non-local level of governance got involved, things began to deteriorate. From local control to state control to federal control, with an increase in cost and a decrease in real educational performance with each level change.
But my money is on the dark horse of technology, which will eventually completely displace "schools" as we think of them today.
Internet schools/academies can completely replace "brick and mortar" schools for any academic subject that does not require hands-on experience.
The physical "school" will be where students go for chemical and physics labs, music, shop and .........(fill in the blank).