During the latter part of the nineteenth century, Americans began to raise the curriculum and instructional methods of public schools. They began to do so because of America's educational system, which was widely deemed inferior to that of Europe's. (Johnston 42)
             As the decade of the 1930's was coming to a close, the quality of the nation's public schools had improved (particularly in urban schools). But as the "urban crisis" in housing, employment, recreation, and health began to take shape; urban education had once again begun to decline. The immediate decline of public education caused the leaders of the time to call for massive reforms of public schools. (Johnston 43)
             Sixty years have passed and Americans are still asking for the reform of public education. Sixty years have gone by and Americans are still unsatisfied with public education. Instead of continually trying to reform public education, Americans should look for alternatives to public education altogether.
             Americans hear a great deal about the pathetic state of public education in this country. Even if many American's don't see anything wrong with the schools in surrounding communities, most Americans share a sense of urgency in reforming education in general. Where does this concern of public education come from?
             The concern about public education comes from the decline of America's educational standards. Concerns about the decline of educational standards refer to very real problems, frustrations, and fears.
             "It should have come as no surprise, that we took a long hard look at all of the schools (urban and suburban) and discovered low standards and expectations" (Johnston53).
             In the 1980's fewer than half of the nation's public high schools required more than a year of science and mathematics (Gross56). Less than one in every ten high school students took physics and only 6 per...