A Libertarian Builds Low-Cost Private Schools for the Masses

Bob Luddy was tired of trying to convince North Carolina educrats to improve the state's public schools, so he built his own network of low-cost private schools that the government can't meddle with.
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[@destroya3303]

Lesson: don't waste your time on politics, go straight to building alternatives

[@olechristianhenne6583]

To bad they focus on trump and problems and complaing

[@fs1541]

Olé!

[@DeADvElOciRaPtor]

Yes

[@TheCarnivoreSoprano]

Period

[@LakevusParadice]

I’d really like to know who is paying extra for this schooling when their already paying money for the public school with taxes. I mean how can you compete with something you would be forced to pay for twice??

[@ShaAllahShabazzMBA]

"If the teacher has a Master's degree but they aren't a good teacher, then we don't consider the master's degree to be very valuable." So simple that it goes over the heads of most "educated" people.

[@Irishcrossing]

"educated people": I am so glad that my entire career life is based around a piece of paper that dictates what I already knew in high school. All that money wasted on this piece of paper, rather than my own skills. Also "educated people": What do you mean the public schooling system is flawed? How else can you acknowledge a persons worth other than their degree in education? Jeez how stupid can you be?

[@nopedefinitelynotnahthatsnotme]

So true. Although i went to a private school the teaches with their "masters" sometimes were garbage. And someone with a couple years of college and some smarts could easily out-teach many of these dummies with degrees.

[@imreborbas9029]

True, but I can sympathize a bit. When you're employing millions of people, it's hard to go case-by-case. And going by papers is better than choosing completely at random. This is one of the biggest problems of centralization. There is a reason entities that grow too large tend to become slow and unresponsive and usually collapse.

[@gorkyd7912]

The size of the company is not the problem. The ability to train employees and adapt is the problem. Telling everyone to choose teachers who have masters degrees is tying up the success of schools to the value of a masters degree, which is determined by the quality of some university somewhere that is probably a scam (most universities are scams). So it can't be quickly adapted if, say, the worth of a degree drops by 50% in 10 years. But that doesn't mean your CEO has to hand-pick every teacher, they just need to codify a more reliable way of determining if a teacher will be successful. If the success of your business depends entirely on the success of teachers (like when you're competing directly and must out-perform "free" public schools every single year) then you can afford to spend a little extra on perfecting your testing / screening and get the right people instead of just falling back on sketchy certifications.

[@harrymills2770]

@@gorkyd7912 : A teaching certificate doesn't mean a whole lot, other than that the person took a lot of education courses that are NOT related to the disciplines they mean to teach. As a former college student, I saw the wash-outs who decided to get a teaching certificate because they weren't fit to compete in any major area of study. A master's only says you have some competence in the content area. A teaching certificate only says that you took a bare minimum of regular courses and a bunch of "education" courses. Neither says you're any good as a teacher. Only observing you in the classroom and seeing how students respond really tells you, and that's easy enough to do, unless it's a public school and administrators (and teachers) don't want to visit classrooms. In a private setup, if you suck, you're OUT. In a private setup, parents have real skin in the game, and if you suck, they're pullin' their kids out and spending that money somewhere else. There's no penalty for failure in the public schools. The worse you suck, the more money you get. And year after year, the number of staff and administration per actual working faculty member goes up and up, without end. And there are actually LESS staff supporting the actual faculty. The staff and administration do everything BUT anything related to the actual teaching and learning. And every time you TRY to implement something meaningful and really quality-control-related, the teachers' union or some state bureaucrat will obstruct you. Public education is a definite scam, and some of the worst scammers are the people always whining for MORE money. It's not a money thing. It's a product-quality thing. And nobody holds the public schools accountable. And NOWadays (and for the last 20 or 30 years), it's all been dumped on the COLLEGES to remediate all the damage done by k-12, instead of holding k-12 accountable. But "student success" means students pass. And the only way to guarantee that students pass is to lower standards, which they've been doing non-stop since I started teaching back in the 1980s.

[@prenuptials5925]

Luddy is the kind of capitalist that Adam Smith was dreaming of

[@jereee4732]

for Adam Smith the market is neither moral nor immoral but amoral. You should not morally classify which capitalist is more benevolent than others.

[@prenuptials5925]

@@jereee4732 you clearly have never read a page of Smith, and most definitely have not read the _Theory of Moral Sentiments_ . also, it should be obvious that one individual =/= a large group of people lmao

[@rangav248]

@@prenuptials5925 Is the theory of moral sentimenta required for understanding wealth of nations or is it just complimentary?

[@chrisloukas9632]

@@rangav248 I think you can read one without reading the other but if you want to have the full idea about Smith's ideas you should read both. It is like , I do not know if you play video games , assassin's creed. You can start with any game you want but they are interconnected to some extent.

[@benjamindover4033]

Yes, everyone for themselves and if your income is low, you don’t have a car or you have a learning disability then you are on your own.

[@eli-huyasharal3913]

Won't hear this on the news

[@isaacg.1185]

HEY, DO YOU KNOW TRUMP? TRUMP! TRUMP DID THIS! TRUMP SCANDAL! TRUMP BUYS IMMIGRANTS? TRUMP DEPORTS IMMIGRANTS! TRUMP SAYS SOMETHING CONTROVERSIAL!

[@darkdudironaji]

Isaac G. What's even worse is, while the liberal media is bashing Trump 24/7, the conservative media is just saying, "Can you believe what the liberal media is saying about Trump!?" Trump has said a lot of stupid shit. GET OFF IT ALREADY! TELL ME WHAT HE'S ACTUALLY DOING AS PRESIDENT. THAT'S ALL I CARE ABOUT! THAT'S ALL THAT IS GOING TO AFFECT MY LIFE!

[@jaycampbell6402]

@@darkdudironaji - He is actually preparing America to face the fact that the cold war is over instead of racing around trying to start a new cold war in places like Iraq, Syria and Libya. He is proving to the American public that if we don't trap US forces in the third world, we don't need to be be bribing dictatorships like China by making bad trade deals. Trump is showing Americans how much of their wealth is being siphoned away by the neocons and neoliberals who want to use it to leverage power for themselves on the international stage. Because of that Trump has not murdered anywhere near the amount of people as any of the last four administrations taken alone. That is reason enough for anyone of conscience to support him and is the reason the neocon/neoliberal media lapdogs hate him.

[@Tethloach1]

@@jaycampbell6402 The media helped improve his image in the last 5-10 years. they make him look so good that there is no point in criticizing him at all. I have had zero criticisms of him since he has been president.

[@Malouco]

Eli-hu Ya these people write a thread about trump off topic complaining about how all media talks about is trump. Lmao. I'm sure u nor I give a fuck about him as a person or a president.

[@AetherXIV]

"if reforming the school system is so easy do it your self!" does it.

[@brianbailey8935]

2021 Update: there are currently 12 schools and they rank in the 98th percentile nationally for standardized tests. Tuition is still ~$5-6K

[@ihavekalashnikovyoudomath9275]

The tuition cost is extremely impressive. Even though they stayed roughly the same, with rising prices it's actually cheaper

[@dtthept9275]

But don't look into teacher turnover within the company. You'll be shocked by what you find.

[@Jormungadr]

​@@dtthept9275 I'm not sorry they fire bad teachers

[@dtthept9275]

@@Jormungadr no, they quit. My school alone had 4 vacancies in one year.

[@isentient666]

As a teacher in a public school, this made my day. :)

[@agustinbaletti]

Free Market for all of education should be the norm. We need it so innovation and improvement can be a rrality! Make affordable schools possible by destroying state regulations! Libertarianism is the future.

[@JohnHoulgate]

@@ry-t-ster9512 Libertarianism is a philosophy of ungoverning. It is actually anti-politics. Libertarian pols would be good at repealing laws, regulations and cutting taxes. These aren't qualities you typically find in a charismatic politician because voters tend to go for pols who promise to do something, not undo bad things.

[@JohnHoulgate]

@@ry-t-ster9512 I understand the framing bit. However, I think the problem has more to do with conditioning people have had for generations, going back to the Great Depression. People believe that government intervention in their lives is a good thing and necessary. Ever debate with a retired schoolteacher about Roosevelt? I have and she actually believed that because her family survived the GD and benefitted from the New Deal, that she knew economics better than I did. Any amount of charisma and appeal to emotions has to cut through beliefs like this. It's not an easy task. Someone like Oprah Winfrey might be able to do it, but she's firmly on the other side. She gets away with handing young starlets over to Harvey Weinstein, then gives her "Times Up" speech. Now that's charisma.

[@ashcash4416]

I went to a middle school similar to this. Teachers we hired based on how well they teach not based on their degree (they had to have some type of degree). Uniforms, no cafeteria, no sports team tuition wasn't too bad. Art and band was a requirement. We did have aid for students with special needs. Loved the school it gave me a great foundation!

[@gamertimefriend1286]

Ash Cash god i hate doing both art and band. Sounds horrible. You don’t get choice which sounds not american.

[@MrThinkEncourager]

You don't always get a choice in traditional public schools, either. They might give you some classes to choose from, but the choice is still controlled by them. I wanted to do computer tech, but they didn't allow that. A lot of what you learn can't even make you MONEY. A lot of these schools are just pimping children for MONEY!

[@nathanthelibertarian1406]

Dee M yeah, at my middle school sixth graders HAD to do a music class, (Band, Choir, and/or Orchestra and if you didn’t do at least one of those, you were put into Music Appreciation for a semester) 7th Graders had to do Band, Choir, And/or Orchestra and if you didn’t do that, you did Art for a semester. 8th graders had Band, Orchestra, and/or Choir OR study Hall. They also had the choice of a foreign language or a semester of a careers class and a semester of Art. We didn’t get to choose most of our enrichment (stuff outside of English, Math, Science, History, or P.E.) classes, 6th graders had to do Home Ec. and Art, 7th Graders had to do Design, Health, Language survey, and Drama, and 8th Graders had to do Home Ec. And Computer Applications.

[@Distress.]

@@gamertimefriend1286 I think it's fine in elementary and middle school. That way you get a feel for what subjects may interest you. You also get a basic idea of those subjects.

[@Aleth86]

How do you know how well they teach?

[@TickedOffPriest]

Ideally we need to move away from the factory model of education as well.

[@chrissnyder3809]

I think that is what I am saying... desks in a row..marching in lines and uniforms are all carryovers from military obedience BS

[@kpss4681]

That is one reason I support school choice! So I can send my kids to a Waldorf or Montessori type school where their individuality is held high.

[@vaibhavgupta20]

TickedOff Priest but there is no alternative to factory model.

[@liberdedeum6748]

A renaissance of privately tutored children is the answer, we need more teachers, and more teachers who can "sell" their skill and talents to the families directly, that way a rigorous program can be developed for each family and child as need be. This will increase the job market for teachers and not place them in the monopoly of the school system. +pax Christi!+

[@chrissnyder3809]

More parents teaching trades again ....

[@rodpruitt8926]

We removed out children from the public FOOL system when they were in elementary school. We home schooled. Perhaps charter, private, or home is the best option for you. but ANYTHING is better than public.

[@hajjdawood]

Rod Pruitt good move I was also moved out by 4th grade and I excelled in life as a result and kept my religious conservative identity

[@workingshlub8861]

when i was younger i used to think kids that were private schooled were snobs etc...i totally get it now ..public schools are a joke. i do not have kids but if i did i would find a way to pat for a school like this.. do you think they teach there is more than 2 genders and other nonsense like public schools?? no way.

[@marcusanark2541]

I salute you, well done!

[@theroadtocosplayandcomicco5840]

I moved schools when I was 13 it was my choice to leave my school. I considered any options charter, magnet, private, or homeschool. I also took into account all the public schools in my area and my disablities. I decided to go to a city school and I excelled! In 1 year my opinion of school changed, I started liking school and learning I had teacher's who cared about me. Now, I'm in one of my states top universities studying education. Teaching has been my passion since I was 15 years old! My dream is to one day run a school!

[@ragnarok7976]

My last run through a school I came out dumber, angrier, poorer, and all together a genuinely worse human being. I'm not looking for sympathy, I just wanna say you've saved your children from a fresh hell that I and many others are still trying to claw our way out of. Big respects to you Sir!

[@TheRisky9]

In other words, a CEO concerned about his lowest employees has made something great.

[@TedSchoenling]

I worked for Bob back in 1997 and was at Cap-Aire when he started the school. He had a great vision and it is working.

[@maybebabyny]

This sounds very promising. I'm curious to know how the students do when they graduate to another school.

[@reg3012]

They do amazing. We hired a graduate from one of his schools who just finished up at NC State, kid is a superstar. Look at their Iowa Test results if you need more proof thalesacademy.org/academics/standardized-testing-performance

[@evandill2430]

I come from one of Luddy's high schools, Saint Thomas More Academy. I graduated with a 3.1 unweighted GPA and went to The Catholic University of America and now have a 3.9 GPA. I know people who have gotten into Cornell, Case Western, Aquinas in Grand Rapids, and several other great schools and are doing fantastically. I'm surprised they only mentioned Thales, but to answer your question: a high level achievement generally exists for everyone who graduates. Also, it may be noted that STMA, a school that's about a 5 minute drive from Ravenscroft, has a tuition of around 9k and will gladly subsidize that if you don't have a high income compared to Ravenscroft's 20k.

[@aeroeng22]

Perhaps the kid would have been just as much of a superstar if he/she had graduated from a public school. My point is there is a lot of self selection going on here---the parent with the not very bright child probably isn't going to bother with the hassle and additional expense of Thales. Frequently you could just as easily explain the documented success of private schools to the quality of the kids they are admitting. Private schools don't put up with kids who don't care. Here's an example. Neighbor kid went to private school, until he brought a knife to school..Expelled! Who had to take the kid in? The public schools. Private schools can get rid of their problems easily; public schools cannot as easily.

[@maybebabyny]

@@aeroeng22 Very good point.

[@paulblart6411]

@@aeroeng22 good point, but I feel like saying that’s the only reason is simplifying it. The public school system is really ass sometimes, and kids don’t do well in it, even if they’re bright. I know a kid who was crazy smart, went to a shit public school and graduated to do minimum wage stuff.

[@Letrus100]

Now this is the content I subscribed for.

[@Siegetower]

+1000

[@wrongway1100]

Private schools are what works in Japan. It does well there. Also You don't need HS in Japan to get a job. If you can provide proof you have a skill you can get a job. Plus they have cram schools to learn or improve basic education skills. (Math, language, history etc)

[@IncredibleMD]

The overwhelming majority of students in Japan graduate from high school.

[@mr.jamster8414]

Japan is a cooool place I reckon gets a lot of BS slander sometimes.

[@Jcolinsol]

This is the best way to expound the principles of liberty, by demonstrating it philanthropically.

[@AetherXIV]

beautifully said

[@danielholm1987]

Half the people in education are not teaching! This alone should do away with the teachers unions!

[@STho205]

Daniel Holm. Many of those extras are not in the union, because they aren't teachers. Some are, but many are not. The administration model and the desire to create jobs for you and your staff tends to create these extra superfluous positions.

[@grantflippin7808]

@@STho205 At the high school I went to all staff was in the union. This includes the salary division that made up some of the most senior members. The school did not cave to union demands for wage increases, the state did.

[@aeroeng22]

disagree...most of that 'extra' staff is due to government mandates. It's the cost of doing business when you take government money.

[@glennwatson3313]

The teacher's union does not control who the school board hires. You the voter do.

[@AshFarlow]

Illinois should hear about this. My state is literally closing hundreds of schools. Guess why... "not enough tax revenue." Yeah right! Illinois has some of the highest taxes in the country.

[@dreamshooter90]

Consequently, the highest "payers" leave for elsewhere.

[@hotrodjones74]

Most universities should do away with the sports teams and that nonsense. Schools and universities are places of learning. Sports teams should be separate of the educational system.

[@shadowfox6438]

That's what the germans do

[@StavroginNikolai]

That's what pretty much everybody outside of North America does. And some of these are referred to as "socialist" by the same people who spend inordinate amounts of public money on sports teams in schools.

[@SpfySpaceJam]

My college did this except we have tennis, baseball and soccer only

[@j.g.mcbell9494]

The only people who say this have never truly been involved with a sport, and seen the value it brings to the children involved in it. In the modern world it’s even more important as for many kids it’s the only way they go outside and play. When done right, even for students who aren’t the athletes, sports can truly build a community, a sense of pride in your school, and creates another avenue for educators to connect with students. We need more sports in schools. We need more kids being active and facing the intellectual and physical challenges sports create. We need healthy, diverse, creative problem solvers who are more than the product of an assembly line of memorized and regurgitated fact machines. We have computers for that. The students of the 21st century need to become masters of theoretical understanding and data manipulation. Not become task masters. The students coming from this school are going to be left behind in the economy of 2050.

[@GhostofFranky]

@@j.g.mcbell9494 I'm willing to be these students will do far better than the majority of students in the public education system. I played sports, but the vast majority of students in a highschool don't play so, your point is completely emotional. You're skewing data. It's very likely that intellectually curious, or more elite individuals lean towards sports so that's why they would perform better, but that's 20% of a population. So we spend massive amounts on programs that only benefit 20% of the people who go through them. If it's a public good it needs to benefit 80% of the people and the other 20 will find their way because of their natural capabilities

[@HalfStarFilms]

Come to New Hampshire and support The Free State Project. This would be a perfect Libertarian match.

[@VoluntaryBusiness]

I 2nd this. Put one in Manchester.

[@camel595]

I never understood why they didn't choose a place with a population that is already libertarian minded, like Arizona for example. Could have had a much greater impact with that Project that way...

[@HalfStarFilms]

camel595 -New Hampshire had some good Libertarian roots and the group voted for NH. NH was already Libertarian leaning and the FSP could make the most impact in a state like NH. I think your vote counts the most in New Hampshire's Electoral College then any other state. Plus no income tax and almost no sales tax.

[@rseyedoc]

camel595 also they wanted a state with a small population so that 20000 libertarians could be a significant impact.

[@camel595]

yea, that makes sense, I just think that a place where Libertarians could enjoy to live, such as an agrarian homestead, open field type state like Arizona or New Mexico could have been more appealing to have people move, and maybe converting some like minded people in that state would have made a greater impact.

[@jonh4265]

And every School Board and Public Union hates this man and what he stands for! That speaks volumes about the state of Educations in America.

[@abrahkadabra9501]

OK, so let's do the math on Thales: 26 students (@ $5,500 a head) per teacher = $143,000 /year. Teacher cost is probably $60,000-70,000 / year. Cost of the building + power + water + insurance + maintenance + administration + taxes = about 35% per student. Remainder is about $40,000 per year for a class of 26 students. Any good businessman has to be good with money so Thales probably spent some time figuring all of this out and saw an opportunity to make a change. Remember Thales does not take kids with learning disabilities or special needs. Also, because Thales is not publically funded so politics does not play a big role in the way the administration works and just that is a huge savings. Not having to deal with the teachers union probably gives Thales a great deal of freedom to make the changes he wants. The real challenge will be to take in kids with learning disabilities and other special needs kids.

[@williamadiputra2850]

i wonder about that too. surely segregating special need kids is cheaper and more efficient. but what about those special need kids? are all special need kids gonna go to their special schools separated from "normal" people? is that desirable? is that cruel?

[@parisgansmuelly1052]

@@williamadiputra2850 No, it's absolutely normal. No "normal" (however you'd like to define it) kid wants to be around them. This might be a tangent, but it's always funny to me how the pro-abortion left all of a sudden starts worrying about the mentally special; can you imagine them saying they should be aborted in the womb BECAUSE of their disabilities?

[@abrahkadabra9501]

@@parisgansmuelly1052 I went to school where there were students with special needs and I don't remember feeling uncomfortable around them. If they needed help I'd help them if I could and so did my friends. This was not a great burden on me. I guess it was a different time when people weren't JERKS!

[@iskdude9922]

@@abrahkadabra9501 well where i went to school they seperated me into a esl class because i was asian and there were other special needs type people there as well if i recall correctly... So we were already seperated... Not sure how they do it elsewhere but public school is indeed a joke

[@TedSchoenling]

@J R The NCAE is a union in all but name....

[@ohevshalomel]

If the school fails to educate the pupils well, the parents can remove their children and stop paying. A monolithic public school system doesn't allow for that. The best you could do within the public school system would be to vote with your feet (to a better district) and hope for the best. If public schools are already failing, what do parents have to lose by going outside the system (the system they pay for whether their own children use it or not)?

[@KnightofAntiquity]

Usually poorly performing students are the result of shit parents. Shit parents usually result from shitty grandparents. You get the idea. A teacher cannot fix that shit unless they become a figure in a childs life equivalent to a parent.... something dofficult to do with 120 + students.

[@elliotw4606]

The unfortunate solution is a wave of anti natalism. And younger people do see that and don't seem afraid to use it. Look at marriage rates. Look at divorce rates. Look at if people are having kids. That's one way to enforce change is not give any fuel until it happens.

[@BrotherWoody1]

Another good thing about Thales is that parents won't be sending their kids there to promote their future careers in the NBA or the NFL. Let the "Parks & Recreation" take care of all that sort of thing, if the taxpayers still desire it. I was born & reared in Columbus & am an alum of Ohio State & I'm fed up with turning out spectacular athletes who can't speak a grammatically correct sentence. It's not merely how much you know but it's how much you know that you're able to communicate. If you don't know how to read, you don't know how to write & if you don't know how to write, you don't know how to think & you can't SAY something that's worth very much to anybody. You can't fake competence for very long.

[@shaneayers4338]

Professional athletes, even those not in the major American league, make so much more than the average person in the middle class that your argument can't be seen as anything but laughable. You don't think entertainment isn't "worth very much to anybody"? Their salaries argue otherwise. What's that libertarians say about markets again?

[@STho205]

Shane Ayers. But their approach is an academic education facility should not be producing that athlete. City/County Parks and Rec should provide higher athletic coaching, facilities and teams. Each school having a sports complex, large lawn/field/court maintenance staff and large coaching staff JUST so kids (even younger kids) can pretend to be Ivy League colleges in 1920 to have home and away games is in fact very wasteful. The universities now use the schools to feed their bloated sports programs and then those programs feed the pro leagues. It doesn't have to remain that way. It probably will, but it doesn't have to. Originally pro leagues drew players from city leagues, not university programs. That started to change in the 30s as more schools got into the business of sports and pro teams had more schools to do business with. Your Harvard graduate was unlikely to throw footballs for a living at 25. Your Ohio State graduate probably would. It may not be the only way to do schools but it is a way. His model looks very much like Catholic Grammar School in the 50s and 60s. They produced great results at low cost.

[@shaneayers4338]

Their approach as an academic institution should be to create the citizens we need in the future. This includes athletes. I'm not even sure how you can believe your argument has merits. We're in the middle of the worst obesity crisis our species has ever seen in this country. if anything, we should be placing an even higher value on the integration of regular exercise into everyday life, not suppressing it.

[@STho205]

Shane Ayers. Well the schools have been doing coached athletics PE since the 30s and 40s in MS and HS, and since the 70s in Grammar school as opposed to recess /free play. However obesity has been RISING since those times, especially after free play for elementary was nixed in favor of structured PE. If mainstream schools are supposed to keep kids fit, then they are doing a poor job (and the cheap junk food lunches help a lot too). Again, city and county parks and rec could handle the coached athletics after school and school could easily end at 2pm if just classroom time and one or two free play recess periods. After school programs would then have 3 hours till pickup at 5:30 or 6. It used to work. What we're doing now isn't. It may identify, sort and foster the elite athlete, but pretty much gives a wag to the average kids health.

[@shaneayers4338]

You didn't adequately address my point. The fact that public schools are executing a good idea poorly is not sufficient cause to leave it out entirely in this model. You're also conveniently leaving out the well-documented links between cognitive development and athleticism.

[@grast5150]

Gah another reason to move out of California. The teachers unions and state government would not allow such an expansive charter school system. Later

[@limerickman8512]

We did not have a cafeteria in my schools. We brought our own lunch to school and ate it anywhere. We had simple sports facility and we did fine.

[@jonathanalvarez3875]

Wow I’ve been thinking about this a lot before I saw this video. Currently Sweden gives vouchers to each family, and lets the family decide where their kids should attend school with those vouchers, and guess what? They have a damn good privatized school system. As a libertarian myself, about to graduate with an ME degree, I hope to create either a stem focused charter school or cheap private school depending on how much beurocracy strangles us dependent on the state, and I would like to construct them in more impoverished areas. I want to show the country that the best way to tackle these educational problems is with using the competitiveness of the free market system as an advantage to solve many of our problems, instead of having people believe that just by funding public schools even more would fix them. I want to teach kids how “cool” and interesting math and science can be, on top of teaching them basics in economics and maybe even fiscal classes which teach fiscal responsibility and debts, to prepare them for actual life, and not have them take in thousands in debt to obtain a useless diversity studies degree.

[@Jack2488]

Excellent video - been talking to 'big government' types all day, this makes me feel much better :)

[@taxslave5906]

@taxation is theft memes news & more, one thing that the government can do that a private group cannot do is put innocent people in prison for victimless crimes. One thing that the government does efficiently: Ruining people’s lives.

[@MindSlain]

Fascinating model. I'm very interested in the accountability of knowledge retention. Low costs are a great goal, but ultimately mean nothing without results to back it. Look forward to statistical follow up.

[@qb4428]

Link is wonky. Click academics, then testing. Page of results.

[@cubeincubes]

my experience in school was seeing ALL the GIFTED kids classes CUT to cater to the DROOLING ones. MAKES SENSE TO ME

[@healthhavencom]

Public School = Prison Training for Kids

[@destroya3303]

This what philanthropy actually looks like

[@LibertyDownUnder]

Though far from perfect, I would gladly send my kids to one of these schools. Also, congratulations ReasonTV for finding "substance" again after your slew of MTV / Buzzfeed style productions.

[@benawesomebw1197]

LibertyDownUnder they’ve become libertarian buzzfeed at this point lol.

[@medaphysicsrepository2639]

higher education sucks just as bad as k-12 education why not do the same in higher ed?

[@tmac9938]

agreed!

[@Loathomar]

There are TONS of for profit higher education schools. Turns out they suck. How does University of Phoenix compare to UCLA? It sucks. People see a four year degree from most for profit higher education schools and give it the weight of a 2 year degree. The only places that don't are government jobs where the box for education must be checked. It is why student debt is 65% more from a profit higher education schools then a public school and the default rate is 6 times as high. Really, US higher education is world class. We have student from all over the world fighting to get into most of our non profit and public schools. Not so much for all our or profit higher education schools.

[@annemor7691]

Loathomar

[@arielsolomon5645]

most of the problems in higher education stem from how we're handling our K12 education. We don't develop good math, reading, writing, or critical reasoning skills; we develop factory workers... where its "ok" to be a little under the bar. The problem is that isn't what we need, we need people who can read and understand the information presented to them, understand when numbers don't add up, reason their way through problems, and be precise and accurate in their language skills when they need to express an idea. The second biggest problem is that collage isn't for everyone, nor should it. The problem is that many of the common place jobs that pretty much any modern dick off the street could do, is covered by a liberal arts degree and not a technical degree. The difference being that a technical degree focuses on doing one task, while a liberal arts degree is designed to provide broad intellectual exposure. A computer technician used to need to be a straight up scientist who could do high levels of math and a broad understanding of physics and engineering, that isn't the case anymore. Basic math skills are acceptable, high levels of English skills and understanding of broad network construction is more important. That's something a technical school is ideally suited for. I'm an art major, my job is communication. I need a broad understanding of language, culture, history and philosophy so I can create products that are meaningful to the largest markets OR be able to single out very select markets. Arts benefits from a liberal arts education. Can it be done without a degree, sure, happens all the time, but usually takes less time and luck with a degree. Our higher education isn't designed to handle the number of people coming through and it often has to retrain people on English and math skills.

[@theicedragon100]

you get great returns as long as you go into a major that has demand like computer science or engineering.

[@Mooja12]

Mr Luddy mentioned that he first tried a charter school then went private. Does this mean that private schools are less regulated than charter schools? If so do you have any information on where the regulations differ? It's a shame that people don't have the option to voluntarily send their children to school wherever they choose without the government interfering.

[@grantcivyt]

Godspeed, Bob Luddy.

[@1_Storyteller]

Indiana has a 6000 dollar voucher system that goes through the parents to the school of the parent's choice. True school choice.

[@SayNoToDemocide1]

This video was just added to my playlist "Truth about school & education exposed, plus education reform, student's rights, & is school a waste of time?" (youtube. com/playlist?list=PLkYQwSCzfVRERfuAcTGRqm6AvwbEx0WYW, also listed on my channel's homepage). The education system in many parts of the world (in this specific case, the U.S.) needs some serious change. But, if the system doesn't change, we'll have to replace it with homeschooling programs such as the Ron Paul curriculum. One way of re-doing the education system for people who can't afford homeschooling or private schooling that I've came up with is to combine charter schools with school choice to force competition between schools to up their quality big time. Now that's a step in the right direction.

[@TheRealFollower]

Absolutely no bloat in staff. No wonder it's so cheap.

[@Amateur_Pianist_472]

5.5K? I went to a private school in Australia for 6K(aus) and we had school busses. That sort of price is very common here.

[@dantedeluca978]

Private schools in Australia are massively subsidized by the government. The 6K is only your parents out of pocket expense

[@Nah_Bohdi]

Thank you!

[@jasonrhodes7047]

Organized sports are as important to young kids as a class room education. It teaches kids how to cope with winning and loosing and how to be a part of a team which is the most important education of all. Every kid can participate whether they can physically play or not by being a part of the team. It also gives kids an activity after school which in some cases is what kids need to stay out of trouble.

[@johnnybartonjb]

School uniforms serve various functions but the main one is for the students to focus on education rather than fashion. In public schools where a free dress code is allowed students compete with each other in clothing, sometimes to the embarrassment of children whose families cannot afford trendy clothing. Also uniforms are usually well made and look sharp, boosting the self esteem of students. My children attend a charter school that also requires uniforms and has no cafeteria and I couldn't be happier with the concentration on classic education they promote.

[@chrissnyder3809]

School uniforms serve various functions .. But the main one is to comply and form good citizens

[@chrissnyder3809]

Randy Perez OK smart guy tell me what purpose school uniformity serves besides to stifle individualism ... Now explain what you mean by discipline and obedience as it pertains to society

[@chrissnyder3809]

Self discipline and obeying the social norm of respecting the person and property of others conflates to military type enforcement and uniformity how?

[@foxjumper]

LOL. You are trolling in your other comment and then try to troll with a guy who actually has kids in a private school. How about you tell us how many kids you have in elementary or middle school?

[@arielsolomon5645]

Wearing a uniform is somehow "military type enforcement"? Wearing uniforms unifies people, be it work, a factory or the military. Social norms are how societies form and fuction, lacking a uniform we naturally seek other things to identify our social group, say skin color, slogans, political parties, ect. If I wear a mohawk and a spiked jacket with patches, I must be a punk. That is the punk "uniform" as is culturally precieved. If I wear business suit, polished shoes and comb down my mohawk I'm a business man. If I call my mohawk a high and tight, strap on my uniform and carry a rifle, I'm a soldier. I do all of those things, what am I? An individual who chooses who and what he is. Someone who lacks a uniform isn't an individual, they're baseless. I'm also a furry, many furries have no social ability and do not fit well in social situations. Often, in normal every day life they wear things that are totally inappropriate for their situation. The lack the skills to recognize the "uniform" they should be in to be accepted in any society. Yes, they are individuals, but they are often practically incapable of interacting with the rest of humanity. They can be smart, talented or just good people, but they do not fit in anywhere(often not even with other furries).

[@austingeorge6659]

Woo-hoo! Doesn't have to be a Christian private school for me to praise Jesus! He's moving mountains in our nation!

[@goofinhiemer1153]

Charter schools will eventually get access to the gymnasiums and fields because they will be held to all other access standards. Current charter students don't have alternatives to infrastructure. Soon county developers will include charter/home schoolers in their common use facility plan as a stakeholder support base who pays taxes and doesnt get access. Go charter, save the future.

[@drivecam101]

So many are commenting on how he's saving money by cutting services and being critical of that. But the services are cut back to the point to where it is very much the same as my public elementary school experience in the 1970s. Now some kids did ride the bus from further away and there were a handful of kids in special ed but that's the only difference. And class size was larger, about 30 kids. Those differences probably cancel each other in cost. The school had no sports facility except for a very simple gym. Playground equipment was made with iron pipe. There was a chain link fence backstop for baseball like sports. No infield as I recall, just lawn. Most kids biked, walked, or their parents dropped them off. The school had maybe 3 or 4 non teaching staff. Principal, janitor, secretary, nurse maybe. I just don't see how this private school is so horrifically short of things. It's all that was ever expected of public schools back in the 1970s. Public schools became a jobs program. So there are lots of jobs and lots of cost and contracts to build and maintain a bunch of stuff. It's about capturing that flow of money from the taxpayers.

[@mylaisms7908]

You are being a shining example !!! Thank you 💗

[@kpss4681]

The only concern/critique for me is the lack of services for children with disabilities.

[@Redmond17]

A valid concern, but if I may make a counterpoint: if public schools followed Luddy's model, they'd have a lot more money with which to provide services for said children with disabilities. Instead, they're paying for specialized sports fields, non-teaching faculty, et al. Failing that, they should just stop charging taxpayers as much, and since the USA is already #1 in terms of voluntary social spending, I imagine it would not be so hard for one or more NPOs to provide such services.

[@kpss4681]

That is a great counterpoint. I agree with you about the issues with spending and waste done by most public schools . Now that I have thought about efficiency in regards to the current special education strategies used in public schools( that I have seen ). Usually ,an aide is given to the children( sometimes one on one depending on the child's needs). I wonder if there is a way to reduce the numbers of staff working with the special education department. But, also maintaining the quality and efficiency of the education. Has it been done before? I'll do some research and get back to you, or hopefully someone will beat me to the punch!

[@coletrain2357]

You have to start somewhere. Like any other product or service, over time fully privatized education would eventually bring down the costs of education so that kind of specialized education would become affordable as well.

[@destroya3303]

This is really exciting. Larger class sizes...seen a good sign. Cutting out unnecessary bureaucracy. Doing something about a problem without waiting for government to make a law.

[@fluffy116]

Honestly as a dude currently in Freshman year of high school. I know you probably shouldn't take my opinions seriously because of my age but I will say this anyways. The public highschool that I am in sucks. It doesn't teach well and students do very poorly. I was in a charter school in Elementary years ago ran by a private organization and it was the exact opposite. We need more smart businessmen like this to build effective private schools in this country!

[@frocco7125]

I like what this man is doing. In an individualistic society, education is a RIGHT, not a privilege.

[@williamadiputra2850]

why is it a right? is it because education improves my chances of making a better living? if that's the case, then why isn't my laptop a right? everybody should have a laptop since it improves their chances of making a better living. i should have a right to a factory or a company, since that improves my chances of making a better living.

[@ThatTimeTheThingHappened]

I’ll start with my enjoyments: I actually really like a separation of the academic from athletic (extra curricular) I like the idea that schools can be catered to the population by the buy in Not an ideologue. Just a general criticism/curiosity: -“masters degree doesn’t necessarily mean they are good at teacher” so ALSO we should acknowledge “have a PhD in mathematics doesn’t necessarily make you good at teaching mathematics” Teaching is a skill like anything else. -This school teaches to a large group of the “middle” students. Meaning, it is a large class size of students that are all similar in knowledge and ability. This isn’t a sustainable model because there are still a huge number of students that need that extra attention. This school model doesn’t seem to have a method to improve student learning for students outside the middle. It doesn’t seem to help students that need extra assistance or need advanced pace. -I think the “cost per pupil” would actually be very close to public school if they included the extra help needed for the lower level and upper level students Mixed feelings: -I actually think students should academically be split to cater to their learning of certain content areas. But overall, we have to remember that we are teaching kids skills beyond academic. Students need to learn how to communicate/collaborate/innovate. This would best be done by mixing students from a variety of levels. Maybe they need to have classes that are split but some classes that are purposefully structured to improve collaboration among a wide range of students - improve local and global connectivity.

[@major_kukri2430]

I honestly like the points that you've brought up. They're well thought out and seem to be from a place of reason. I just want to also add that the 27 student class size he's proposing is a bit excessive. From what teachers have said, 20 +/- 3 seems to be more manageable.

[@roysmith3198]

That's getting started, some people with money doing some good. Thank you.

[@repker]

No mention of what the (arguably) primary goal of education: to educate. An education system's success isn't measured only on if the business runs well, it's also measured on how well it actually educates.

[@GONZOMAF]

That part about shitty teachers with masters degrees is something that hits home for me as a high school senior. All my teachers are coaches first and teachers second so I️ may be top of my class but what that really means is that I’m good at hiding my phone while look for answers not actually doing work

[@curioustgeorge]

they talked about outcomes but didn't show what differences in student achievement or performance compared to charter or public schools. make a part 2 explaining that! the only outcome they mentioned is competition to get in..

[@theuglykwan]

I'd like to know more too but I'd assume his expansion is based on demand which is a general indicator.

[@camd3511]

Whenever there is competition to get in, you know the word is out on how good they are doing.

[@iskdude9922]

Of course its great. I didnt learn jack shit in school and i live in one of the highest taxed states in the country.

[@goodgoyim9459]

student outcomes is largely determined by race, IQ, family situation and not schools, proven with science, nicer schools dont make better performers.

[@robertleelandjob]

This is basically every church school out there. they've been doin it for less for decades to boot.

[@mycupoverflows7811]

@JD Siga I homeschool using ACE. Would love to start an ACE school at my church one day. 😊

[@yidy1]

Now this is how it should be done. Do away with the "department of education" and leave it to the local authorities and/or private sector.

[@dtthept9275]

There's a reason it's low cost. No cafeteria, no on-staff nurse, no aides to give teachers breaks for lunch or recess. I taught there, briefly, and I would never recommend anyone send their child there. Academic rigor does not mean giving more homework and worksheets. It's definitely another dog and pony show that interviews prospective students to see if they are a good fit. Imagine being a 9 year old and getting rejected by a school. I think not.

[@barsoom43]

To reform the public schools, first close down the Federal Department of Education.. Get the Feds totally out of the schools and, BTW, keep the First Lady out of the school lunch menu.. Then, de-unionize the teachers.

[@karlcraig3680]

What everyone seems to be missing is that the only way they are able to afford this is by picking and choosing all the students. It is fine for a private school to do this, however this is not a model for the rest of the country.

[@pneron2032]

Ir doesn't have to be a model for the whole country. The whole point is to move away from one size fits all models. It is good for the country, as a whole, however because it is lessening the cost of public education with every child that it takes.

[@BelenusValikonis]

I look at this, and I see a more sensible business model. That's about it. If I were to be considering sending my kids there, the main thing on my mind would be exactly WHAT they're going to be learning there, and what bias may be present. Are they gonna be drowned in some ideology they don't need? Are they gonna be missing important facts of history? Are they just gonna be made into good "test takers", and not taught valuable real world skills? The more private the school is, the more you have to dig into the curriculum. Public school is largely effortless and sloppy, and private schools can be practically anything. Do your kids a favor and home-school them. They won't be constantly apart from you and missing vital interactions early in life, and you know they'll be learning everything they need, without anything unnecessary. Social interaction with other kids is really the only downside overall, but that can easily be remedied.

[@DrCruel]

The teacher unions have utterly crushed every attempt like this. His days are numbered.

[@joshuaziegler1]

This is a huge reason why I like the Trump pick for the education dept. Do away with the failing public education system and move to a voucher system that you choose the school with the money you pay vs funding the public school offered in your district, pay the teachers what they are worth not what the school district can afford.

[@chrissnyder3809]

Nice to have those dreams ... Trump loves the state

[@DavidHDennis]

I think he's pragmatic. He loves the state when it works well for him. In the case of his nominee for Secretary of Education, her commitment to vouchers and charters is extremely well known and well respected (and of course loathed but by all the right people).

[@osaabd390]

are you kidding me? did you see the senate hearing session? she is incredibly stupid. I don;t know how her family trusts her with their business. I live in Switzerland and lived in Sweden and Denmark. I also studied in Switzerland and Sweden and taught in some other places. and these countries have public school system and it is totally working where the state actually invests in its people. where the majority believes that education is a human right not a privilege.

[@whitefox998]

"This is a huge reason why I like the Trump pick for the education dept..." *Facepalm* Does anyone else remember the days when Trump supporters were trying to get libertarians to vote for him back when he was talking about abolishing the DoE? Trump voters seem to have shorter memories than leftists.

[@Siegetower]

Yes, abolish the federal dept of education. It fails kids across the country.

[@Felix_Ruber]

I love this.

[@iowasenator]

Mark my words, the powers that be simply CAN'T let innovation like this succeed! I guarantee that they'll soon be marshaling their forces in opposition to the successful implementation of such freedom and quality results! If they are unable to CONVINCE free thinking people, they will seek the adoption of laws (or FORCE) to shutter the doors of these wonderful schools. They don't care about liberty or the success of these students. They want what is best for themselves and they're happy to utilize government to force the rest of us to participate. I'm not psychic and I can't predict the future. It's just that statists are as transparent as glass.

[@hannecatton2179]

This is a good man.Therefore he WILL have a huge struggle on his hands. I hope he can expand his school system. All the very , very best to him.

[@aok43]

how nice to see an American school with a uniform. commonplace in Australia, UK etc, it eliminates the class and wealth divide for kids who cant afford flashy clothes and shoes and creates a team atmosphere, which is bizarrely so popular in US colleges but not in primary and secondary schools.

[@battleskorpionYT]

Studies have actually shown uniforms actually only highlight the wealth gap more, since poorer kids still can't afford the nicer brands.

[@timothynash2993]

@@battleskorpionYT We bought our uniforms directly from the school, so there were no differences.

[@MusketWalrus]

@@timothynash2993 Yeah, I'm from England and we got all my private school's uniforms from a 3rd party business who made the uniforms for everyone in the area. AFAIK it was the only place you could get that school's uniforms from. Either way the company had regular profits every year. The uniforms were all good quality and not too pricey either (important because 1/6 of the students were on a 90% paid scholarship so they didn't have much money). The school also ran a uniform donation bank so poor families could buy good quality hand-me-downs cheap. It was great.

[@iammrbeat]

How well are the teachers paid at Thales?

[@mr.w8802]

That's the real question. If teachers are paid 20k a year then in the long run this system doesn't work.

[@JaredMarshall]

According to the 'School Growth' blog post 'Thales Academy is a Model of Efficiency' by Scott Barron, Thales pays its teachers and staff "salaries comparable to the public schools in the area," but you may want to do your own homework by contacting Thales Academy for salary information if you don't want to miss a beat.

[@williaminluv9011]

I would gladly be a teacher if I was paid 20k a year.

[@mchristr]

They are paid exactly what the market will bear. It's a simple yet profound concept.

[@vaibhav2k13]

"Well" is a subjective term. What matters is whether teachers are being paid what they agreed upon with the administration. If you think the sum is low then you can act in order to make the pay higher but your actions should not involve intimidation using the violent force of government or anyone else.

[@MrPloppy1]

My kid goes to this very school. For those critical of the Direct Instruction technique of robotic repetition in the video should know that it is phased out in a few years as a character building class is added. By middle and high school they are given a Classical education.

[@soapbxprod]

OUTSTANDING! Thank you!

[@bobsaget7315]

Sports is one of the things I really love about high school though.

[@chrissnyder3809]

Still using same type system of desks in a line ..uniforms etc Need to abolish all these militarized ideals

[@Paul-A01]

Chris Snyder Like discipline?

[@aaronneil7]

How about you do it? Or would you rather gripe about a business man making education better for students and their families?

[@chrissnyder3809]

Yes ... it came from Germany to "form good obedient citizens " .... People that voluntarily enjoy and come to learn don't need to be treated like the military..

[@chrissnyder3809]

Trying to improve society ... didn't say this was bad. In fact in the video he says he is still under state BS regulations

[@alexjones1017]

Well under free market schools you'd be able to send them to more individual schools. Some already exist like Waldorf schools, while not really that great, are an example of what could be offered.

[@jenningsputnam]

Thank you sir!

[@dgerdi]

That is the true spirit! I absolutely don’t wonder, why this comes from a libertarian. Good luck with this project!

[@juanvaldo666]

I just hope they teach the children here matters that really are important and not that crap of sexual ideology or how to wear a condom.

[@marksdaman9408]

I am just curious who decides the curriculum?How is proficiency determined? Are the children ready for college afterwards?

[@erinmontoya1128]

If a kid has to go through 12 years of schooling and comes out not having the adequate skills to compete in the job market, why do they need college?

[@basteagui]

@@erinmontoya1128 they need college to get the adequate skills. because middle and high school are bullshit. at least elementary school teaches you reading, writing, multiplication, adding and substracting.

[@iskdude9922]

@@basteagui yes and its generally easier to make friends in elementary school before everyone starts getting in their cliches and other stupid shit

[@hughstephenson2957]

We had a governor back in the 70s (Wyoming) that set up a public school funding that was sperate from the "general fund" that was for schools only. Also, schools are more interested in sports programs and "social justice" nowadays than teaching the three Rs.

[@solb101]

If someone can make private education affordable for working class people, that would be good indeed.

[@Fallout777]

43 thumbs down, Hmmmm must be teacher union members.

[@ahokay3119]

This is fucking beautiful. I wish all schooling in the USA was like this.

[@marcusanark2541]

Competition drives better results; there are no one-size-fits-all model there must be diversity.

[@josephvictory9536]

Some complain about the lack of special ed. It just means a model specific to special ed will need to be conceived to meet the demand. This is not Bobs issue. After all, the more regular kids that get good education, the better the nation gets. Its not as though this system will magically take over. more than likely public schools will pick up the special ed kids because those parents wont have the choice. Which while not terribly great, means they will still get schooling. With public school, charter and now cheap private, education markets may have sufficient diversity to meet actual market demand. All i know is the public school system is shite and without people moving out of it, it will never change.

[@shashipancholi]

Schools can be treated like a factory: pumping out children like items off a construction line, but going to school is more than just entering a building and downloading information. I do however like the idea of getting parents more engaged with the eduction of their children

[@SamuelMoralesJr]

This is interesting, but how are the results? There's no data provided on how successful these schools are.

[@simplestatic]

Samuel Morales Jr. well considering a parent has to put out a chunk of change, drop their child off every morning, pick them up in the afternoon, make lunches, and there is a 4:1 waiting list, it must be at least better than the public school it is competing with where all of that is "free".

[@joshuahand407]

Samuel Morales Jr. It really doesn’t matter when you have a choice. If the school is inferior to public schools, then it’s your fault for choosing it. That’s the point of privatizing the education department. It’s not just about better test grades, or having a sports team. I should get to choose where I send my kid to school.

[@araci88]

In Peru the regulations to open a private school are not as restrictive and the free market has allowed the massive growth of private schools. I studied in a very respectable private school in Lima and my parents only payed 100$ a month for it. No sports, no art, no religious teachings, no extra curricular activities, no cafeteria, just classes from 8am to 6pm, with a break at 2pm of 1 hour. The goal of the school? Make your child ready to enter college, and the percentage of teens entering college after high school was almost 100%.

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

"Merry Christmas!" Love it

[@jennifersneegas8352]

Definately would have considered something like this for my kids. They were educated in public schools in an upscale college town in Colorado and we definately did not get the education I would have wanted for them. My kids were in top 5% in there class all through school but were be expected to "peer mentor" slow kids and grade papers. Ridiculous. Definately had to do with dumbing down the curriculum and serving the less academically able students to the detriment of my kids education.

[@matthewhemmings2464]

I understand your frustration, but how is ''peer mentor'' a bad thing. I have mentored an intern, and from this I have gained huge experience. I can also put this on my resume.

[@assault410]

But how can they get to the school if there are no roads? Checkmate

[@parkerwilson7860]

assault410 lol, I think most libertarians believe in a road commission 😂

[@Warrenmitchum]

Parker Wilson they do and honestly who paves the road is it the city or a company the city hires to do the job if the city can hire them why not you.

[@CheapSkateGamer96]

Toll roads my dude.

[@kyled1673]

The private sector can and has built our roads. Checkmate.

[@analienfromouterspace]

My father back in Iraq paved a city road for his projects, he knew where to get cheaper labor and less expansive materials for it. Know your market!

[@jamescash2773]

Interesting. My spouse was co-owner and director of a Traditional Montessori school (private for profit). For the 17 years that the school operated in Texas, the majority of their students had comprehensive test scores that far exceeded comparable students that were in the public school system. The school also had scholarships for parents who could not afford the annual tuition of $6600 (Kindergarten through 6th grade). The difference is that the school and the Montessori method helps the student develop a “love of learning” and can lead to lower expenses for students, their families and the overall school costs. Rest assured, the Montessori method is just one way for better school instruction. There are other methods that may also be effective, but any method that only “prepares” students to take a state/government designed and implemented test is an abject failure.

[@davidking4779]

The Liberal teaching style Montessori schools didn't seem to get as much push back as conservative schools do.

[@GordonTurnerpark]

You kind of lost me when you said they don't serve students with severe learning disabilities. That is a major cost right there and public schools are required to make accommodations. I was actually wondering how this school can legally violate the ADA. If this system were implemented on a nationwide basis, how would students with learning and behavioral disabilities receive an education? I do appreciate the fact that you did include that in the report as it gives viewers a more complete picture. They had a great point when they talked about the cost of sports and sports facilities. I personally would love to see public schools get out of the sports business. Are students who attend the school allowed to use the sports facilities at the public school? If so, are the parents reimbursing the public school?

[@DavidHDennis]

A private school should not be required to take students who are unsuited to its curriculum. I seem to remember that the public school solution is often to put disabled students into special private schools for them, since mainstreaming them is frequently disruptive. This really isn't any different. When I was in college, I checked out the School of Education catalog. There was a one year course series about the Exceptional Child. Children who were disruptors, who couldn't learn, etc, were considered. There was a quick mention of the gifted, but as the very last thing taught, likely to be pushed aside by more important stuff. I would rather live in a society that puts the gifted first and the disabled last than our current situation of putting the disabled first and the gifted last.

[@Mooja12]

I'd simply like to live in a society where each person is free to make their choice who to associate with. Public School? You pay or they take your house.

[@GordonTurnerpark]

You are misinformed concerning students with special needs. They are included in all classrooms now. It started when I was in high school in the 1990's and is standard practice in all classroom today. It was ruled a violation of the ADA to not include children with special needs in classrooms.

[@GordonTurnerpark]

Agreed. I think people should have the ability to make their own choices. I think you are missing my point. Just pointing out that this isn't a solution for all things and it is a bit of an over simplification. I was questioning how they can violate the ADA and turn students out who have disabilities.

[@Mooja12]

Thinking that there is one solution for all things is one reason why government fails so miserably. No one is claiming that this is the solution for all things. But this seems to be a solution for some.

[@luminite1818]

Although this guy built this school by using Libertarianism how the school is ran is not Libertarian at all.

[@Reub3]

yea can you explain. I'm not a libertarian so I don't have the slightest clue.

[@prxnv]

I literally live in Wake County and go to high school here. Everything this man said is true...

[@PUNKDUDE1991]

Nevertheless here in Puerto Rico where I live there's a proposal to turn all public schools in to Educational Co-operative run by teachers and parents without intervention of the state. We are talking about 700 plus schools system with 300,000 kids rigth now we spend $15k per kid a year Wich The state will pay in form of tuition.

[@fornello123]

i'm all for free-market efficiency especially in education, but half of this guy's cost savings are simply due to cutting services. oh wow you saved money by not having school buses or a guidance counselor

[@MrThinkEncourager]

Some of the guidance counselors suck anyway. And some children need to WALK for exercise. I remember walking to school and even running sometimes if I was going to be late, lol. A lot of what's going on in public schools are a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. Children would be better off working at walmart or something. At least they'd be getting paid for something and maybe learning some type of skill. They could even save up enough money to pay for their own education. Some colleges cost less than public k-12 schools! I'd like to see community colleges (trade schools) compete against traditional schools.

[@lithium25693]

Taiwan and China agree with your child labor stance.

[@MrThinkEncourager]

@ lithium25693 So working at Walmart is child labor, lolol. I worked in crops and mowed lawns with an uncle and his sons during the summer while I was in junior high school. We made MONEY! That's something public schools don't give out. You sit there and get PIMPED while someone else (teachers) make money off of you. Also, as someone who played sports high school, many athletes work out and put their bodies through more physical (and sometimes mental) work than what's put into public schools sitting in a chair all day and being given unhealthy food for lunch. I wanted to learn computer tech, but my school wasn't even offering it. I also attended schools in different districts due to my dad moving around and being a teacher. I can tell you that some schools are more retarded than others! At one point in history schools actually had work shops and APPRENTICESHIPS (get paid to learn), but those have been slowly taken away. The founder of Zoho was helping children who can't afford to go to college by giving them apprenticeships. He attended Princeton and even states "We have a thousand engineers. We're been in business for 15 years....When's the last time anyone in our company use calculus." kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKWYdoCkdrmMlbM P.S. I also stated SOME children. Those who'd want to stay in public schools can, but give others who might be POOR another choice! And I'm stating that as someone who lived in a single parent home until my mom got married! Oh and I use to help my grandpa sell hotdogs and watermelons make change on the side. I guess that was slave labor as well, lolol!

[@Distress.]

I think part of the point is freedom of choice lets parents customize what they're paying for. Remember this school is supposed to be low cost

[@dab0331]

Which is the cost is lower for the parents. Duhhhhhh.

[@CountArtha]

"The Masses?" That's a very un-libertarian thing to call regular people.

[@dab0331]

Regular people? That's a very un- libertarian to call individuals. We're all great and special. Now give me a trophy

[@charomivida]

No How do we EXIT our School Tax ?? Our high school Borrowed $400 Million to build a new Sports Facility and ZERO Professional Athletes have graduated, Not One Penny on Books , but they did Hire 2 more Police officers . I had to Home School my son because they run school like a Prison. My son is WAY MORE EDECUATED now than all his friends .

[@justinwilliam2865]

Bravo for doing Public Service for your State/Country!One question though;IF you're doing the govt's job,what's the govt doing,on taxpayers money??