Let's keep it simple: School Choice slices through this morass of complications. But better than school choice, parental tax credits would be even better. Someone pointed this out to me. Rather than a government-run voucher system, simply give a flat dollar amount per child to the parents, with a simple recommendation that the money be used to pay for an education. Make the public schools similar to the postal service, forced to compete with the private sector, the education version of UPS and Fex-Ex. Parents, having complete control over the money, would have absolute control, making them completely immune to the Federal Courts, etc.
True, some evil parents would pocket the money and not educate their children. But there could be a minimum standard test for the children in order to get future tax credits. An annual or bi-annual test could be the only control the government would have. If tax credits are denied, then the child is required to attend a public school and might be put in a lower grade level.
A LIBERAL nightmare. They want to blame class size, too many immigrants with so many different first languages (they LOVE bi-lingual education), crumbling schools, lack of books, racism, poverty, etc. The answer: MORE MONEY!!!! How much more money and how many more educational experiments will it take? The Left and the teachers' unions have taken our public educational system and literally destroyed it. And in the process they are destroying our country's foundation.