Conservatives angered by the state of US higher education ought to take a moment to reconsider their approach to the rest of America’s educational system, which is currently dominated by a push for what they call “universal school choice.”

Under such a program, more commonly known as a voucher system, parents of K-12 children would receive a subsidy to attend the school of their choice, with schools able to call their own shots in terms of admissions policy, outside fundraising and curriculum design. The theory is that market competition, as in so many other areas, will produce good results. The reality is that this proposal would make primary and secondary education work the way US higher education already works — which is, to repeat, a system that conservatives don’t like, in part for good reasons.