Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
Parents should be free to decide where, and how their child should be educated. For this reason, I believe that the common schools should receive tuition on a per student basis. Parents will decide what school best meets their needs, and the school will receive money based on the number of students that are attracted.
In order to meet parental demands, the schools will be free to decide the curriculum, as well as admission standards. With this type of system in place, there will be no need for school boards, since the parents will be in full control, and they will decide if the school does a good job. The elimination of the school board will be another reform that will cut the cost of civil government.
Section 2. The Common School fund shall consist of the
Congressional Township fund, and the lands belonging thereto;
The Surplus Revenue fund;
The Saline fund and the lands belonging thereto;
The Bank Tax fund, and the fund arising from the one hundred
and fourteenth section of the charter of the State Bank of Indiana;
The fund to be derived from the sale of County Seminaries, and
the moneys and property heretofore held for such Seminaries; from
the fines assessed for breaches of the penal laws of the State; and
from all forfeitures which may accrue;
All lands and other estate which shall escheat to the State, for
want of heirs or kindred entitled to the inheritance;
All lands that have been, or may hereafter be, granted to the State,
where no special purpose is expressed in the grant, and the proceeds
of the sales thereof; including the proceeds of the sales of the Swamp
Lands, granted to the State of Indiana by the act of Congress of the
twenty eighth of September, eighteen hundred and fifty, after
deducting the expense of selecting and draining the same;
Taxes on the property of corporations, that may be assessed by the
General Assembly for common school purposes.
Notice that there is no provision in the funding of common schools for taxing personal property! Yet, people pay property taxes for common schools. The constitution is not to be ignored. By getting the state out of our lives, we can greatly reduce the cost of government, and use the savings to apply to the common school fund, and eliminate the taxing of homesteads for common schools.
Parents should be free to decide how their children are educated.
