Competition can solve many of the problems of public education, says columnist Walter Williams, a recognized speaker on school choice.

        That is the message Mr. Williams plans to deliver Saturday at a school fair sponsored by Cincinnati Councilman Phil Heimlich and several private backers.

        Competition, Mr. Williams said Wednesday in a phone interview, weeds out inferior quality and brings variety.

IF YOU GO

• What: Cincinnati School Fair.    • When: 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.    • Where: Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center.    • Why: To highlight more than 40 public, private, Catholic and charter schools. There will be booths for 14 Cincinnati Public Schools, nine charter schools, 16 private schools and the city's Catholic schools, offering information on programs and scholarships.

        “I cannot say what the public school system or what education would look like with competition,” Mr. Williams said. “But I would say that if you look in the areas of our country where there is ruthless competition, we lead the world.”

        That would be in such markets as computer software, grocery stores and computers.

        “If you look in areas where we lag behind the world, it's where government controls things, whether it's the post office or public schools.”

        Economics Department chairman at George Mason University, Mr. Williams thinks charter schools and private schools are successful because they don't have to deal with everything heaved upon public schools.

        He cites Marva Collins Prep in Cincinnati, as well as Marcus Gar vey in Los Angeles and the Ivy League School in Philadelphia as positive examples.

        Students in these three schools are mostly African-American, and come from low-income backgrounds. Yet a majority of those students score at or above grade level when tested, Mr. Williams said.

        How do they do it?

        “A teacher doesn't have to spend time on discipline to the extent they do in public schools because they have the power to kick out kids or not accept kids who are troublemakers,” Mr. Williams said. “And there is greater parental involvement in these schools. ...”

        Mr. Williams is not saying that public education is bad. He just thinks competition is the best way to ensure that the best schools survive.

        “It's very much like if there was a restaurant in town, and you were required to go there or else you could not eat,” he said. “I doubt that the quality of that restaurant would be very good. But when there is competition, you get lots of choices and improved quality.”
       

State of the State
Excerpts of the State of the State address delivered Wednesday by Gov. Bob Taft.
Grants will help with heating bills
Plan skips funding fix for schools, some say
Taft's honeymoon could be over
Taft's initiatives
Baby desperate for heart
Barrett Cancer Center has new director
Cancer center aim: top-flight status
Oil companies' profits huge
Former minister faces new set of securities charges
PULFER: Super Bowl
School copes with two deaths
Five die in four accidents in 24 hours
CROWLEY: Kevin Bacon game loses some sizzle
Young Bunning seen as too green for federal judgeship
Chao sees challenge in evolving new economy
City officials trying to stop low-income housing project
Colerain officer shoots suspect
Columnist to tout choice at Cincinnati school fair
Council plans Westwood help
Downtown topic: east side access
Group urges minor changes to Freedom Center design
Hamilton students welcome $150M school rebuilding plan
Illness may temporarily close Turkeyfoot Jr. High
Inmate may have fled in stolen SUV
Killer refuses to testify about body's location
Lakota teachers get raises
Lebanon seeks opinions on comprehensive plan
Man in car eludes police
Merchants concede magazines obscene
Morgue photos were attempt at artistry, attorney says
NKU student awaiting heart transplant
Ohioans boost fund for inaugural
Shed was meth lab, police say
Students pledge motor safety
Tiny Silver Grove shines
Tristate A.M. Report