The Texas State Board of Education will be making decisions concerning the social-studies curriculum guidelines, subject to the usual “culture war” conflicts. This year conservatives and liberals are lobbying the board with their opposing views of the role of religion in U.S. history, as well as which historical figures warrant inclusion in textbooks. Last year, the board dealt with the guidelines concerning science, and the debate focused on a clash between religion and evolution.
Texas’s guidelines have a national effect because publishers tailor textbooks to Texas standards due the state’s dominance as a buyer. The board’s decisions influence textbooks used in classrooms throughout the country.
There is a way to resolve the conflicting views: get the government out of the education business, allowing a free market with competitive schools and diverse curricula. Why allow a fifteen-member board to determine the content of textbooks for the millions of students throughout the country? If we had the same structure for restaurants that we have for education, the Texas Board of Meals would be debating vegetarian vs. barbecue vs. Tex-Mex, and we all would be at their mercy.
A free market in education would not tolerate uniformity of textbooks. It would, rather, demand a wide variety of materials. In the new world of computerized production, publishers could easily tailor books to the needs of schools or associations of schools.
We can distinguish between government paying for a service and providing the service. If the government continues to finance education, it can do so through vouchers or tax credits.
The answer to the textbook crisis? Replace government schools with a free market in schools, and replace the culture war with cultural competition.
