ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes the logical order of things. In the logical order of things, educational finance monopoly (EFM) should be "presumed guilty until proven innocent", on the basis of what people know about monopoly generally. The symptomatic elements of the indictment against American K-12 monopoly schooling are well known, and often treated. Monopoly is sufficiently well known as a humanly hurtful device to make one's insist, in any logical arrangement, that anyone who wanted to propose it bore the burden of proof. The state, after all, exists for purposes of insuring that the social fabric is not rent and destroyed by internal conflict and tension, and that its citizens will not be victimized by marauding states beyond its own borders. "Education" and "children" are good words, and educational budgets are often defended simply as having children's interests at heart. The central fact of EFM budgeting is that school budgets emerge from a system lacking normal restraints and competitive pressures.
