There's been more government involvement in our lives during the past year than Clark can ever remember. Often it seems that President Obama's whole thrust is about more and more central control on our lives.

Yet there was a recent shocker from the Obama administration that ran completely counter to that assumption.

The feds are now trying to convince states in the clutches of teacher's unions that are hostile to innovation to give charter schools a try. Charter schools are typically beloved by Republicans. But good ideas (or bad ideas) can come from anywhere on the political spectrum.

The Wall Street Journal reports seven states have eliminated the vice grip that choked or outright prevented charter schools in their borders. This is good stuff, according to Clark. More competition from charter schools means better education for our children.

We spend huge money via our tax dollars -- whether you have kids or not -- to pay for a broken public school system. Of course, there are hardworking teachers in every kind of school, including public schools. But Clark believes our Soviet-style of public education has stifled the energy and enthusiasm of some of our best teachers.

He also wishes we had more of a consensus on vouchers. For now, charter schools are a decent halfway point. True, the quality of charter schools runs the gamut. But the marketplace sorts it out and puts the bad ones out of business.

Congrats to the Obama administration for doing something Clark didn't expect. The teacher's unions were a big supporter of the President's when he campaigned against McCain and he didn't think Obama would cross them.

Our educational system is essentially a Soviet-style government-run monopoly that could only be loved by the likes of Lenin and Stalin.

Consider this: The government decides where your kids go to school; what curriculum they'll study; and they even develop long-term educational plans just like the Communists did with their 5-year plans.

This kind of "one size fits all" approach really punishes kids. And zero tolerance policies are a symptom of the stranglehold our government has on our schools.

For example, there's currently a case going to the Supreme Court about an Arizona student who was suspected of possessing an Advil several years ago. For that crime, she was strip-searched to see if she had hidden the ibuprofen.

The Arizona school system has remained defiant through the years. They've constantly appealed court decisions ruling against their right to do the search and are now taking it all the way up to the highest court in the land. In the meantime, this process has taken so long that the teenager in the case has since become an adult.

(Editor's note: The actions of the Arizona school system were ruled unconstitutional on June 25, 2009.)

In another instance of an insane zero tolerance policy, The Washington Post reports that a teen was suspended for 2 weeks after taking a prescription birth-control pill during lunch. This was not a religious or moral issue; the school was instead arguing that it was illegal for students to have prescription pills on the premises. That student is now facing expulsion!

And in what may still prove to be an urban legend, a mother is said to have risked reprimand after baking a cake for her child. Her transgression? Bringing it to school with a plastic knife to cut the cake. Huh?!

This is what we've done by not offering school choice in our nation. Clark has long been a fan of vouchers and charter schools to bust up the government monopoly on the education of our children.

Clark has created a fuss with educators in the past when he's raved about Finland's educational system.

Simply put, Finland has the best public education system in the world. Their students achieve well beyond children in any other country. Surprisingly, they don't spend a lot of money on education. But they do have an innovative approach and they work their kids very hard.

Here in America we have a brand of "education lite" with far too few hours spent in the classroom. In fact, our standard of 12 weeks' worth of summer vacation goes back to the days when America was an agrarian society and all hands were needed on the farm during harvest times.

In Finland, children begin studying algebra, geometry and statistics in the first grade. By age 15, they speak three languages -- not uncommon throughout Europe.

Yet their kids are No. 1 in standardized testing vs. any other nation. The bottom 10% of their academic achievers can beat an average student from any other nation in the world.

The Dallas Morning News reports a team of Texas educators recently traveled to Helsinki to learn from the Finns. What they found was that teachers had 100% freedom to educate -- there's no standardized curriculum -- and they treated their classroom like an entrepreneur would treat his or her business. Contrast that to how we do things in America with our five-year plans and giant bureaucracies determining what gets taught.

If you think this doesn't affect you because you don't have kids, think again. Remember that huge amounts of your taxes are still spent to support schools that are failures.

Clark's college sophomore daughter recently called him in need of $440 for an emergency car repair. His immediate concern was how to get her the money as soon as possible.

Enter a new beta test of the PayPal Student Account, which allows parents to instantly send their children money. However, enrollment in the beta is only open to those who have an existing PayPal membership. The whole concept for this arose when PayPal VP Don Fotsch had a similar dilemma as Clark did in trying to get money to his kids.

The PayPal student account allows instant availability of funds for a 2% transaction fee. So every $100 you send becomes $98. But Clark loves that PayPal is providing competition to the banks' choke-hold on the money transfer business.

Several months ago, Clark got very upset when California outlawed homeschooling. Thankfully, however, that decision has been overturned on appeal. As goes the Golden State, so goes the nation, right?

Some 2 million children are home-schooled in our country. The first cousin of Clark's wife -- a former teacher named Courtney -- home-schools her 5 children!

Interestingly, the California court initially ruled that only former teachers would be allowed to home-school. Yet a restriction like that ignores those of us who have the ability to educate one-on-one.

Long ago, Clark worked for a group called Literacy Action that taught non-reading adults how to read. They did it with volunteers who offered one-on-one tutoring to help adults achieve functional literacy. That's where Clark learned the power of one individual working with another.

Parents should have the right to work one-on-one with their children too. Some folks in public education think home-schooled kids are just a bunch of truants. But Clark believes that to be the exception rather than the rule.

To remain competitive internationally, we need to use every tool available to us in the educational world -- be it vouchers, charter schools or school choice.

Clark is particularly excited about what's going on in Finland. In their public schools, teachers are like independent entrepreneurs; there is no centralized curriculum. No "Soviet style" monopoly education like we have here in the United States.

The result of Finland's vision? They have the highest level of education achievement in the world, while spending a relatively paltry sum per child.

Think this discussion doesn't affect you because you don't have kids? Huge amount of your taxes are still spent to support schools that are failures.

Clark recently created a stir when he spoke about the Finnish educational system. Finland has the world's highest achieving students. Teachers are treated as entrepreneurs in the classroom and can teach whatever they want. There's little emphasis on standardized testing, and there's no state-controlled curriculum.

In fact, they're a great example of free enterprise in the education field. What makes it odd, however, is that Finland has a long socialist background!

The equally socialist Sweden is also letting the free market work in their schools. They've adopted vouchers. Sweden's voucher system allows parents to opt out of the public schools and send their kids to private school regardless of family income.

The Financial Times of London reports Sweden is now planning to institute a voucher system for the elderly seeking nursing homes. Once again, the elderly will be able to shop for basic long-term care regardless of income.

The United States is supposed to be a beacon for free enterprise. Yet free enterprise stops at the door whenever it comes to something that government gets involved in -- like education and healthcare.

We need to reinvigorate how we spend our tax dollars. It doesn't matter if you don't have children or elders; it's still coming out of every paycheck. Clark is a dyed-in-the-wool capitalist, but he thinks we need to follow the lead of socialist Sweden and Finland on these points.

Clark is glad that he doesn't have high blood pressure, because he'd be steaming right now! The California Court of Appeals has outlawed home schooling. They want parents who wish to take on the burden and challenge of teaching their kids at home to be criminalized. This is an outrageous infringement on personal liberty. The home schooling movement started in the fundamentalist Christian community, but it's since crossed over to about 2 million people of all types. Clark's concern is that as goes California, so goes the nation. Our Soviet-style monopoly school system is not succeeding, so home-schooling must not be outlawed.

How does the U.S. rank academically? A recent international test of 10th graders shows that we're sandwiched between Latvia and Lithuania in the middle of the list. Finland has the highest achieving students in the world. The Scandinavian nation doesn't have a government-mandated curriculum; every teacher must decide for him or herself what to teach. Finnish teachers are not well compensated, but people clamor for the job because they can be true entrepreneurs in the classroom. Finnish classrooms don't use modern technology and kids don't start school until age 7. We here in the U.S. have got to get out of our "one size fits all" mindset where we spend fortunes on education for no meaningful results. Think this doesn't affect you because you don't have kids? Huge amount of your taxes are still spent to support schools that are failures.

Clark has long been excited about educational vouchers in our country. But these days it seems like he's alone in his beliefs. Utah voters recently shot down the nation's first universal school voucher program. The system was originally pushed through by the state legislature, and it earmarked money for every child in every public school in the state. Parents were given the option to take the funds and apply them to private school admission for their children. Under the system, children from poor families would get more money than those from rich ones. But Utah is often considered the reddest of the red states, and voters overwhelmingly threw out the voucher idea. Clark is stunned and disappointed; he's obviously also out of touch with the opinion of many Americans.

Milwaukee, Cleveland and Washington D.C. are all places where vouchers and charter schools have been popular. Clark loves the idea of parents having choice in the education of their children. He feels we spend way too much per child in public schools for the poor results we get. The problem, as he sees it, is that our educational system is a government-sponsored monopoly. In the marketplace, businesses must adapt to new conditions or go out of business. But there's really no equivalent in the schools -- and our children suffer because of it.

Clark often confuses people with his talk about choice in schools because they think he's getting political. But he sees it as an issue that's simply about giving every child an opportunity to succeed -- regardless of their family's socioeconomic background. Monopoly schools and arbitrary zoning either sentence kids to a stinking school or reward them with a good one based on where they live. That's pretty much the norm across the country. But some states like Arizona have been very innovative with allowing school choice and having an active charter school movement. Clark grants that there have been financial scandals in some of the Arizona charter schools, yet he thinks they're on the right track. He also likes the idea of vouchers, which are like gift certificates where you take the public money that would have been spent on a student and give it to them to subsidize private school tuition.

Parents who home-school their kids really impress Clark. There are nearly two million kids who receive this kind of education. Clark admits that he doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to home-school his own brood! Yet home-schooled kids are usually overachievers. Colleges once shunned them because they have non-traditional transcripts and grades. Now The Washington Post reports that nearly 85 percent of colleges have formal evaluation policies to come up with a class rank of sorts for home-schooled kids. There's even a whole cottage industry of learning materials that have sprung up around parents who home-schools. Clark sees the teaching materials for sale at stores in August and September. With home life being such an important factor in a child's education, Clark wants to salute parents who home-school.

Sometimes it takes a scandal or two to change an industry. After hearing about all the bank kickbacks to schools and dirty deals on campus in the student loan industry, there's finally some good news coming. The House and Senate have a plan that will disburse $5 billion that the banks stole from taxpayers, students and parents through their atrocious student loan practices. The plan will be phased in over a number of years and has a lot of great provisions. First, the interest rate on student loans will drop from seven percent to just over three percent over the next several years. Second, there will be new procedures in place by 2009 for the PLUS loans that parents take out. The new rules will be very clear and banks will have to bid against each other for the right to write these loans in each state. Third, there will be a loan forgiveness program that amounts to $4,000/year for teachers of science and math and any teacher who works in a high-needs public school. Finally, members of the military, law enforcement, firefighters, nurses, public defenders, librarians and early childhood teachers will be granted full loan forgiveness after 10 years. That means their balance will be wiped away if they make the minimum payments on time for a decade! The best part of it all is that not one cent for these programs will come out of taxpayers' pockets. All the funding is coming from the money the banks stole in the first place.

This was a year of embarrassment for colleges who were in cahoots with unethical banks and other lenders. First there was the whole student loan scandal. Now The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that there are some dubious practices taking place on campuses related to student credit cards. Many schools get kickbacks for allowing there to be an "official bank" on campus. Such financial institutions offer outrageous terms and conditions on their credit and debit cards for students. The universities do this to get money under the table money from the banks. These arrangements are technically "partnerships," according to the schools. But the fees on the cards are almost double those available in the general marketplace. Clark believes a full investigation is necessary. As he says, if university officials have been getting bribes, they should go to prison. This is yet another thing for parents to worry about when packing their kids up for college at the end of the summer. Clark says to shop around on campus for a bank or credit union that's available to faculty, staff and students -- instead of just going to the preferred campus lender where the university sells out its students. What is going on in the banking world that offering bribes and kickbacks are becoming so routine??

Clark is fierce about his feelings on public education. He thinks public school systems are harming our country and he loves the idea of charter schools. In Washington, D.C., in particular, charter schools and vouchers are huge. On the other hand, the public school system has always been a “social promotions” system. That means that people move to the next grade regardless of what they know. The good news is that the public schools in D.C. are now trying to get their act together, too. Houston is another area with struggling school systems. Thankfully, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is opening 42 new charter schools in the Houston area. It will allow more impetus for change and opportunity, in Clark’s opinion. Today, more than ever people need education. We are a “knowledge-based” economy. In the past, people could get by simply with hard work. But, if a child grows up in a poor area these days, his or her education will also be poor. And, therefore, that child will not have the same opportunity to succeed as a child reared in a good school. Even if you don’t have kids or your kids are grown, you are still affected by this. That’s because huge amounts of your tax dollars are spent on education.

Why is it that in 2007 we still offer an education system reminiscent of the Soviet Union? Yes, places like the University of Phoenix have brought new options and experimentation at the college level. But our kids are still suffering. Most primary schools are run as state-controlled monopolies with bureaucrats running the show. It’s all based on where a child lives, and some kids lose out while others luck out. Thankfully, Utah is thinking outside the box. Passing by one vote in the Utah state house, the state is setting up a program whereby 100 percent of kids will get vouchers to go to school where they want. The amount of the voucher will be based on parental income, but every single child will be able to attend private school if they wish. Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Wisconsin are a few other states that have tried new voucher programs. There are always lawsuits going on and it’s been an uphill battle. But Clark is proud that some of our states have such vision. Every child is different and every child needs a certain environment to grow and learn.

One of the biggest financial decisions a parent makes is whether to send a child to private school or not. And it can be pretty daunting. The average private school education costs $17,000 a year nowadays, according to the Wall Street Journal. That’s about $2,000 a month. In Manhattan, it’s even worse at $27,000 a year. And the schools are becoming filled with either wealthy or underprivileged kids, who are on full-ride scholarships. The middle class is getting squeezed out. Some are offering partial-ride scholarships for middle class kids, but you have to ask for them. And the more kids in the family the more likely you’ll get the money. In other school news, the city of LA has about 100 charter schools. The LA area had some of the worst schools in the country, and now things have turned around. The former governor of Colorado took over the system and decided innovation was the answer. Obviously he was right.

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.

You’ve probably heard of the Bush education plan called “No Child Left Behind.” There has been a lot of controversy about it and how states plan to implement it. But what if it’s the teachers having trouble with the tests, not the kids? According to Fox News, half of the middle school teachers in Philadelphia failed the test that kids are given as part of the law. Philadelphia’s public school system has been troubled for years and is considered to be “failing.” But it is the kids who suffer. Clark is a huge fan of charter schools and experiments in education. But in many areas, school districts and teachers’ unions line up in opposition to these initiatives. Instead of worrying about the children, they’re worrying about the administrators and the people on the school board. Teachers burnt out every year because of the bureaucracy in schools. Schools systems lose some of the most creative minds and, as a result, the children suffer. We should provide the resources for kids to go to private schools if they want to. We need to reach kids who are not challenged and are failing in any way we can. We need an educated work force because it helps our country over all. We must have creativity and choice so we can continue to enjoy all the freedoms we do.