The State Against Blacks

In The State Against Blacks Walter Williams describes policies which harm(ed) minorities, whether sold as beneficial to the majority, such as (initially) minimum wage laws and Jim Crow, or beneficial to the minority, such as (currently) minimum wage laws and affirmative action. In Black Education Dr. Williams describes the dismal state of Black schooling in the US and considers some of the causes. Dr. Williams does not name the fundamental cause of the US school system's wretched performance, the policy which gives to State (government, generally) employees an exclusive position in receipt of the taxpayers' age 6-18 education subsidy. Harriet does not believe that Dr. Williams missed this detail. Rather, the libertarian Dr. Williams likely takes as a given that the US State-monopoly school system will yield poor results and proceeds to list them.

Dr. Williams observes that facts do not support some common answers to the question "what’s to be done about this tragic state of black education?" US schools receive more than enough money, and class size reductions have little effect. He further observes that standardized tests for college admission and graduate school admission place Education majors at the bottom of the list among all academic majors.

In answer to the question "What is to be done?", Dr. Williams writes "This destruction will continue until the day comes when black people are willing to turn their backs on liberals and the education establishment’s agenda and confront issues that are both embarrassing and uncomfortable." Harriet suggests that unhappy parents will accomplish more for their children if they turn their backs on collective action as well as on government schools. Homeschooling parents do not need to reform the entire system.

Dr. Williams concludes "Prospects for improvement in black education are not likely given the cozy relationship between black politicians, civil rights organizations and teacher unions." This may well apply to the prospects for systemic reform through formal democratic processes. In one 2005 post, "An Economy based on Greed", Harriet wrote: "Political control of school harms most the children of the least politically adept parents ('Well, duh!', as my students would say)."

Homeschool. Nothing in Hawaii law requires that homeschool instruction occur between 0800 and 1430. Parents can extend daycare to age 17 (when students may take the GED)
and supply instruction in the evening.