The problem with David markham's comment about the education system is
that who the customer is is a matter of debate - actually there are
multiple customers for the direct outputs of education, one of whom is
arguably the community at large. There is no guarantee that the aggregate
of indiviudal parent and student customer choices would meet the needs of
the other 'customers'. This is what complicates the debate in education.
If this is not so - then the question must be 'why is attendance at school
compulsory at any age?' What sort of a market is it where the customer is
forced to buy? What assumptions are impilict in a compulsory phase of
education, and what do those assumptions tell us about who the customer
for education is?
There are actually two quiote seperate debates about education. One
concerns the compulsory phase, and the other the voluntary phase. Unless,
of course, you advocate the abolition of all compulsory education. Even
Milton Friedman choked on that one - with the result that his own
intellectual honesty led even he to pull his punches on the question of
school choice.
-- Phillip Capper Centre for Research on Work, Education and Business PO Box 2855 Wellington New ZealandPh: 64+ 4 4998140 Fx: 64+ 4 4733087
EMail: pcapper@actrix.gen.nz