All schools should be the same. If we're in a situation where choice matters, we're doing something wrong.
So, we... Ban private and religious schools?
Obviously that would not work from an electoral standpoint, but I wouldn't really oppose the closure of faith schools and fee-paying privates. What good do they do, really?
Moreover, the onus should be on the restrictionists to justify banning alternative education programs, especially those that aren't subsidised by the taxpayer. I find it bizarre that people who would never accept closing/banning being the default position on gay marriage or marijuana can blithely assume education should be restricted to one single system.
If parents feel strongly enough to pay $10 000's and make potentially make large sacrifices (especially in the case of religious schools) to educate their kids differently, there's a need or niche that isn't being served in the public system.
My brother and I spent time in public, religious private, and secular private schools and we received all sorts of benefits in the private ones; serious religious education, smaller class sizes and access to courses that let us skip my first year of university... But what I appreciated most outside of the public system, was that how much faster the administration responded to my brother's bullying. I guess the thought of lost tuition revenue gets people moving.
