FROM ERIC NEW: Whether you have "retired" from sucking at the public teat is not really the issue because "retired" teachers suck on the public teat forever through their pension scams. Government worker retirement plans are far more generous than anything those of us in the productive class can hope to achieve, even though we save and invest 25% (more than most can afford) of our income after working for 40-50 years (not 15-30 years like the government slugs who then double-dip into a second government job while collecting their pension). When inflation ravages our retirement accounts, the government workers' unions scream bloody murder down at the legislature for tax increases to protect their cost-of-living increases. And spare me the lame arguments about roads, trash collection, police, fire, mail, etc. There are countless examples of these functions being provided privately and successfully throughout history (and currently) if you look into it a little more closely. And "education" wasn't provided by government through forced taxation until the past 100-150 years or so. Civilization advanced quite nicely without government schools for over 10,000 years. Civilization has been in decline since the advent of mandatory government schooling. Perhaps that should tell you something. Even thought you have completely ignored any principled arguments I have made regarding the inherent nature of taxation as theft, the personal responsibility of parents to care for their children, and the goal of the government "educational" system to create dumb, compliant slaves for the corporate state, I will answer your question: "Why should the delivery of our children’s education be any different from any of the abovementioned services?"--Just substitute words like food, clothing, shelter, health care, transportation, etc. for "education" and you can see will find your answer. Based on your premise, why shouldn't government just meet all our needs from cradle to grave? Dave--Like most of my Republican/Demoplican friends, you are a collectivist who worships the cult of the omnipotent state. You guys complain about government not doing what YOU want it to, but just can't see that the State is the enemy of liberty so please call yourselves what you are--socialists, communists, collectivists, whatever. Just don't try to cloak yourselves in the mantle of freedom, because it is an ill-fitting suit indeed. Eric New P. S. I strongly recommend you read John Taylor Gatto's book "The Underground History of American Education." And think about the following..."There are now more moochers than producers in the U.S. All other political commentary is irrelevant."--Craig Cantoni