I was just watching an interview of Charlotte Iserbyt on Tragedy & Hope and she makes a great point: it would be much worse if private educational institutions overtake the public schools, b/c at least the public school system has an elected board where grassroots efforts can influence the school's direction.
I would expect that most private schools are corporations and are not open to direct public involvement. It would thus be much easier for an outside influence (i.e. Rockefeller Foundation) to control all aspects of the education provided at private schools.
I realize these statements are rather broad in scope, and that it is possible for a private school system to implement a corporate charter that requires direct parental involvement. Whether such institutions exist or not I do not know.
But I thought the point Iserbyt made was worth thinking about and considering. In the process I thought I'd raise it here to stimulate additional input.
One thing is clear, that the public schools are seriously broken, and unless more parents wake up and realize why, get personally involved and do what they can to reduce the state's influence their kids will be doomed to a dismal future. Of course the best way to do that isn't by using an institution, but rather to homeschool. Sadly, most parents will be unwillling to go that route.
At this point I'm not sure the public system can be saved, meaning it may be too late to restore real educational value to the students.