We have a public school crisis. How do I know? Because so many Democrats send their kids to private schools. They take money from the teachers' union but send their kids to private institutions. Obama, Gore, Clinton, Kerry, Kennedy, et al!

The big problem in public education is that parents are not a part of the system. They have no voice because they are not using money (or the taxes that they pay) to choose where their kids go to school.

This is why I love "the education debit card" by Lindsey Burke of The Heritage Foundation:

"As parental choice in education takes root in more communities throughout the U.S., education savings accounts (ESAs) have taken on greater importance as the funding mechanism for customized learning. This is especially true in Arizona. The state's version of ESAs, known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, has enabled families to completely tailor their children's educational experience. With Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, Arizona has created a model that should be every state policymaker's goal when considering how to improve education: funding students instead of physical school buildings and allowing that funding to follow children to any education provider of choice."

Put the money in the parents' hands and let them spend it. The net result will be better schools and that will mean more kids ready for the international economy that we are doing business in.

You can hear my chat with Lindsey Burke here.