I don't think complete deregulation is a good idea. Problem is, the results of education don't show up for about 10 years. Capitalism gives you what you want now, not what you need 10 years down the road.
As a general rule, markets are good when they transmit information (like the relative scarcity of goods) and bad when they hide information (like the chance of default on subprime mortgages). I think it's far more likely that a free-market educational system will behave like the latter than the former, because it's much more difficult to ascertain the quality of an education than the quality of a laptop.
I do think more choice and accountability is necessary. I went to a public charter school, and it was the best decision I (well, my parents) ever made.
I think the big change there is bandwidth - browsers were SLOW 10 years ago. It wasn't possible to do much beyond the basics on a 64K dialup. (actually, wan't it even slower than that in 97?)
As a general rule, markets are good when they transmit information (like the relative scarcity of goods) and bad when they hide information (like the chance of default on subprime mortgages). I think it's far more likely that a free-market educational system will behave like the latter than the former, because it's much more difficult to ascertain the quality of an education than the quality of a laptop.
I do think more choice and accountability is necessary. I went to a public charter school, and it was the best decision I (well, my parents) ever made.