John makes two points that I’d like to respond to. First he says,

“comparing the institution to a certain peculiar one in the past [slavery] is a good way to get your rhetorical head chopped off, not to mention the fact that the comparison is seriously misguided.”

I think that compulsory attendance gives the comparison some legitimacy. What is misguided is that a free society should tolerate coercion and the usurpation of parental authority on such a massive scale.

Second he states:

“The question becomes what steps we can recommend to break up the monopoly structure of the system as much as possible and create incentives for educators and students to improve outcomes.”

This is where the problem lies. Many of us believe that the steps proposed by the school choice crowd will end up extending the monopoly not breaking it up.