Home > JOURNALS > IJLSE > Vol. 12 (2024) > Iss. 2
Abstract
The goal of this Comment is to evaluate the failures of the current system of education within the United States via policy and economic market and goods analysis lenses; in doing so, it will establish that public education in the United States is a toll good, and the only way to properly fix the inefficiencies that result is to reduce excludability and convert the education into a public good. First, Part I will overview how we got here by describing relevant laws and history, the current state of federal case law, and the dire situation for many students throughout the country. Part II will describe policy rationales and explore types of markets and goods. Finally, Part III will evaluate the results of those classifications. It will build on an interdisciplinary foundation by combining economics, education policy, and law; in doing so, it will classify and identify education in a novel perspective with unique consequences. Specifically, it will address how our current education system does not properly satisfy our market goals—producing workers and informed citizens—thus resulting in arbitrage-like inefficiencies. It will also propose a solution to that problem and how the nature of the good or market could be altered to minimize those inefficiencies. However, it is important to observe that this change would not be constitutionally required but rather an ideal to be modified for local needs. A federal baseline is likely needed to achieve those goals.
Recommended Citation
12 Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality 139