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Yesterday, I wrote:
Perhaps someone with better grasp of politics and history can clarify this,
but isn't government funded education a somewhat more recent thing? I
thought that the DOE (Department of Education) came into being under Carter.


No false modesty there; I clearly did not know what I was talking about.
There was a DOE formed under the Carter administration, but it was the
Department of Energy, not the Department of Education. Looking at the
Department of Education's web site at http://www.ed.gov/stats.html, I read:
Continuing a tradition that began in 1867 with the creation of the original
U.S. Department of Education,

That said, I am still of the opinion that other models are worth discussing
and exploring, and even letting people try, while continuing to support
"public" education, whether it is funded by taxation or otherwise. But then,
my wife and both had poor experiences with "public school", in spite of
being identified as above average, and have chosen to home school instead.
It would be gratifying to at least be able to deduct our costs for our
children's education just as I can my own continuing education, but I'm not
holding my breath, waiting for this to happen. Since the current voucher
proposals would only affect families with children in "public" schools that
have failed for the past three years, I cannot see it affecting us in any
way.

Greg Stigers
http://www.cgiusa.com