That is, I won't push to prohibit state governments from getting involved in education, but I wouldn't oppose such a prohibition either. At least at the state level there are still other places one can go.

Yes, John Taylor Gatto was one of a kind. A great man. Worth reading.

And I agree that kids who are not subjected to the age segregated school system seem much better adjusted to the world. The one school I attended which was not age segregated - to the point of having school events including everyone from kindergarteners to seniors at least once every other week - was also the only school I ever attended in which there was zero bullying, not even harsh teasing - and this was precisely because the older kids would step in to stop it.

Besides this, the kids I've met who had real jobs where they interacted with adults were also among the best adjusted. This is why I support child labor even for the upper single digits - within reason, of course. As did John Taylor Gatto, who observed that "Nothing works so fast to give kids a leadership mindset, self-control, discipline, and a lot of good things, as work! Real work."

Considering the primacy of peer relationships in how children learn I wonder at the endeavor to shove kids together with other equally ignorant kids and expect them to learn anything. I expect it only lasted so long as it has because kids used to have more relationships with adults outside of school - but thanks to the campaign of hatred against us this is on the verge of breaking down entirely, and we see a generation of young people now many of whom have no idea how to do anything.