Education: Choice or Political Shannanigans?

I've recently noticed the spectre of school choice raising itself up once again. Is this another attempt by some to manuever and shape the public debate to gain tax advantages and thereby fund private educations for their children at the public's expense? It certainly seems so. Why else would the politically savvy do this? It cannot be that they have become concerned and are now motivated enough to change public education for all children; especially since such academic entities result in lotteries and disappointment for so many. Why should the public tax dollar go to pay for such subsidies? After all, it is the public education system that made the United States the greatest nation-state the world has produced. Instead of demolishing this public system of democratic education, why not invest in it? It produces returns to the public that no other industry ever could or ever will. Unlike throw-away investments that require war and violence, public education produces future doctors, research scientists, and dreamers that bring about a better civilizing force. Yes, there are those that argue war is great for the economy and forces innovation, but the cost is always inhuman and always produces resentment. Have we not yet come to the point where our Congressional leaders and others understand that our best and first defense against tyranny is public education? I say it is time we invest fully in public education as it is our first line of defense against ignorance, intolerance, and tyranny. Public education is a national security issue that requires our full attention, and is the first of many public infrastructure projects that should be upgraded and the focal point of the future, not something to be discarded and left for the poverty stricken to pick at.