Did you know that you pay school taxes regardless of whether you have kids in school? We all pay a huge amount in taxes and yet the performance of our schools is mediocre at best. We’re putting money in but we’re getting nothing in return. We run our education system like the former Soviet Union. People living in a certain area must send their kids to one school based on the boundary of that school district. Some schools are fine, but others are not teaching our kids a thing. So, parents living in these areas have to uproot their lives and move if they want their kids to get a good education. Clark has said for years that we need to open up our education system to other options. Vouchers, charter schools and other experiments will help improve all of our schools. In one county in Northern Virginia, the school board has opened the system and allowed parents to take their kids to any school they want. It’s happened because of the vision of one superintendent, who has successfully implemented the same system in other states, according to the Washington Post. There is a lottery, and parents sign up in droves. The number of kids in the program went up 50 percent in just the last year. It’s working because the superintendent created competition among the schools, and Clark loves that. People should be able to take their kids to any school in the state. It’s the largest expense in the United States after health care, and we’re wasting that money. Children from any neighborhood – rich, poor or in between – should have an option to go to whatever school will help them learn better.