Peanut Butter, Education, and Markets

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Have you ever thought of petitioning Congress about the quality or quantity of the peanut butter you eat? Have you ever thought of creating a reform movement around peanut butter? Or have you ever wondered why there isn't a federal department of peanut butter? Maybe it's because if customers don't like Peter Pan, they can buy Jif, and if they don't like Jif, there's Skippy. We can get it chunky or smooth. We can even get low-fat peanut butter, of all things.

Why are there are so many variations on a product that in the scheme of life is pretty insignificant, but when it comes to education--a product that determines our children's future incomes and the very character of our …