But feel free to explain to us how public school teachers innovate, operate efficiently, and produce results their customers demand. What choice do those customers have if they're not rich enough to afford the choice private education offers?
The fact remains that the government monopoly on affordable education has produced crappy results and skyrocketing costs, just like any centrally controlled market. Sorry if that doesn't fit your agenda.
You can't compare educating children to producing products people want, because parents are the worst possible people to be deciding school cirriculum. Schools need to produce graduates with the knowledge and skills which will make them marketable to corporations in a highly scientific global economy. Sending your child to a Christian school where they will be taught the earth is 6000 years old and science is a hoax, will not be helpful to their potential or their future.
Every country where teachers salaries are comparable to other professions with a similar level of education, has better outcomes than the US, and yet the US has more non-public schools than any other nation. Buying the education you want for your child is foolish. Having the public sector provide a quality education for everyone, regardless of income and place of residence should be the gold standard in US education.
Right now where you are born and grow up determines what kind of public education you receive. Children in low income areas have about as much chance of making it in life as someone who is taken out in a row boat, has rocks tied to their ankles, and is thrown overboard with instructions to swim to shore.