It's not a question of whether it's possible, it's a question of whether it's probable.
Here's my theory. We should privatize prisons. The competition between companies to build and manage prisons will lead to innovations in rehabilitation techniques, and innovations in efficiency of inmate management. We'll get a system that releases prisoners who don't end up back in prison and it will be cheaper than our current system all because of the magic of competition and the profit motive.
Except we've tried this experiment, and the results are clear. The profit motive has lead to the prison industry lobbying government to get laws that send more people to prison, and to private prisons giving kickbacks to judges to send kinds to prison for first time minor offenses.
The incentive created by privatization is to create more profit, not to create a better school or prison.
We don't need to theorize. We already have a privatized education system in the US - college. Could you explain why it would be a bad thing to make primary education more like college?
Also, if you feel the US college system is so bad, should we try to make our college system more like our primary education system? If not, why not?
Your comparison to prisons is silly since a) non-privatized prisons have similar incentives and similarly lobby for more prisoners (google CA prison guard unions), b) prisoners don't get to choose their prison (unlike schools), and c) private prisons are not rewarded based on rehabilitation.
"Could you explain why it would be a bad thing to make primary education more like college?"
They don't have the same goals. Primary education has to educate everyone. Private colleges can be selective about students, kick out students, etc, etc. You can't compare a system that has to educate everyone with one that can be highly selective. It's apple to oranges. But, private colleges as a whole are questionable. Look at all the diploma mills, aggressive recruitment to private "colleges" with substandard education, no real campus, whose goal is only to make a profit. I can't find it now, but I read a story recently about a scam private college that bought another school that was accredited so that they would get the accreditation which wouldn't be rechecked for years!
So in short, I think some private schools do a great job for some students, but I'm highly doubtful that it will work well for primary education that has to educate everyone.
I think US colleges are great, but it's not the same goal as primary school. I don't think the two are comparable.
The private prison example isn't exactly the same, but it has similarities that you guys are ignoring. The main one is that the incentive is to maximize profit, not to make a better prison or school.
The main difference is that with prisons, the "customer" is the government. Inmates do not have a voice in society, and they are routinely raped and tortured (and often murdered) in both private and public prisons.
Here's my theory. We should privatize prisons. The competition between companies to build and manage prisons will lead to innovations in rehabilitation techniques, and innovations in efficiency of inmate management. We'll get a system that releases prisoners who don't end up back in prison and it will be cheaper than our current system all because of the magic of competition and the profit motive.
Except we've tried this experiment, and the results are clear. The profit motive has lead to the prison industry lobbying government to get laws that send more people to prison, and to private prisons giving kickbacks to judges to send kinds to prison for first time minor offenses.
The incentive created by privatization is to create more profit, not to create a better school or prison.