By James Bovard, from 1996, includes “Public education is the most expensive ‘gift’ that most Americans will ever receive. … Teacher monopoly-bargaining laws (laws that permit unions to claim to represent and speak for all teachers, and to force school boards to deal with unions) in 34 states cover 67 percent of the nation’s teachers. … The power of the teachers unions is one of the best reasons to pursue the separation of school and state.”