“Ironically, the big anti-Catholic-schools push that took place in the US in the late 19th Century, which enacted laws and court decisions that prevented anything like the Canadian situation from occurring here ... starts to look like a very good thing in this day and age of militant government secularism.”
Which is why my thinking has moved away from the idea of vouchers for private school education.
My favorite idea is PJ O'Rourke’s, which is to just blow up all the public schools. However, a more realistic idea might be to provide every family with a massive tax credit (partially or wholly refundable?) for each school-aged child. That credit could be exchanged at the state or local level for a free education at a government-run school, or the parents could make any other arrangements so desired, including homeschooling.
At $5000 or $7500 per child, the decision to homeschool would be available to many more families, as these funds would be available to help defray the loss of a second income in a household.
The credit would be applicable against federal, state or local income taxes, property taxes, or payroll taxes [employer and employee side] (Lots of people pay little or nothing in income tax, but everyone who works pays a great deal in payroll taxes, especially when one adds the employer's side of things.).
It would mean that most families, and especially larger families, would pay little or no net taxes while raising their children, but that's with the understanding that they would be taking on the direct burden of arranging and paying for the education of their own children. And in strictly natural terms, that is the most important function of most folks during their lives - rearing children decently well, educating them, forming them morally and religiously.
sitetest
I agree. But the public school monopoly would go wild if they lost control of all this public money. Think of how many careers depend on this funding. School districts would be requited to strip central office down to a half dozen employees. That would be devastating to the children who so depend on them /sarc