@Jamie

"I'm not sure about the USA, but here in the UK we have religious schools (both Catholic and Protestant) which are funded by the state. I am not a huge fan of them, but in terms of addressing your specific point, I hope this helps."

That would be veiwed as establishing a religion or religions by the state and would have the liberals screaming just as if the Federal government allowed only certain religions tohave the private schools (as you neglected to quote from me previously). By the way, if you are going to quote and respond, be sure to respond to the WHOLE train of thought, not just one little part...

"Surely, Draugnar, you're not suggesting that if private schools were banned, organised criminal gangs would start running private schools, disguised as legitimate restaurants, funeral parlours and laundries?"

No, but what would happen is kids of the super wealthy would be shipped off to boarding schools in other countries. Where there is the will and the means, the desired result still happens no matter how much government may try to stop it. Also, the only reason the Al Capones of the prohibition era could be the organized crime lords is because there was a demand. What I woul dsee happening is more "homeschooling" with some teachers choosing to officially leave the profession ebcasue they could be a "nanny" and make tons of money "homeschooling" the rich kids for those wealthy families who wanted their kids around and didn't want to ship them off to another country. You might even find underground classrooms and eventually schools if it went on long enough as the former teachers band together (organize) and form one of those illegal private schools out of site (and oversite) of the government. So, yeah, in a way, there could be a form of organized crime going on. It may not involve guns and booze, but would be organized, would involve lots of money, and would be criminal... and the kicker is that most of the political office holders with school age kids would be sending their kids to these underground classrooms or hiring the "nanny" that teaches the "homeschooled" kids.