January 25–31, 2026 | New Episodes Monday–Friday
School Choice Week is often framed as a celebration of expanding taxpayer-funded school choice options. But choice alone is not the same as freedom, and expanding government-funded options can carry unintended consequences for families and for the private sector of the education economy.
This year, Refining Rhetoric uses School Choice Week to ask a more foundational question: “What kind of choice leads to character formation, human flourishing, and genuine education freedom?”
At the center of this week is a hard but necessary examination of the dark history of government-owned and government-directed education—how centralized control over schooling has repeatedly been used to shape beliefs, loyalties, and outcomes rather than cultivate truth, virtue, and wisdom.
That examination is anchored in a brand-new book, released this month:
Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education, and How We Can Win It Back by Robert Bortins and Alex Newman.
The book is now available for preorders on Amazon, and this week’s conversations mark one of the first public opportunities to engage its ideas.
All week long (Monday–Friday, January 26–30), we’re featuring a lineup of thinkers who helped shape this book and its argument.
Woke and Weaponized Contributors Will Appear as Guests on Refining Rhetoric!
- Dr. Ben Merkle
- Rachael Jensen
- Alex Newman
- Dr. Josh Pierson
Together, they examine how education has been quietly reshaped and why simply expanding government-funded “choices” fails to restore what families are actually seeking.
Why Woke and Weaponized Matters
Woke and Weaponized exposes how Marxist ideology quietly reshaped American education—not through force, but through language, standards, and teacher formation. Robert Bortins and Alex Newman trace how schooling shifted from the pursuit of truth and virtue to a system increasingly oriented toward social engineering, leaving families constrained and dependent.
The book makes clear that this transformation did not happen by accident. It followed global historical patterns common to government-controlled education systems: once education is owned and directed by the state, it becomes a tool for shaping society rather than forming individuals.
While the state will always try to solve public problems with additional public programs, the authors argue that real reform requires more than other government options. It requires education independence, where families own the responsibility for their children’s education rather than outsourcing that responsibility to the state.
Throughout the week, our guests address a growing reality: as taxpayer-funded school choice expands, the private sector of the education economy is weakened, not strengthened. When education is financed and regulated by the state—even outside the traditional public-school system—independence gives way to compliance, and ownership is gradually replaced by permission.
Then, we turn to a perspective many prefer to avoid. We will hear firsthand reports on what is actually happening where these programs are being rolled out.
Two More Guests Will Expose the Flaws in Universal School Choice
KrisAnne Hall, former prosecutor, constitutional attorney, U.S. Army veteran, and founder of Liberty First Society, joins us to challenge the assumption that government-funded programs can produce genuine liberty.
Her warning is direct: “Liberty is not granted by government programs. Liberty exists only when government is restrained.”
Your child’s education does not escape this reality. Privately owned and directed education is the only meaningful restraint against totalitarian takeover. Freedom in education is only possible when families maintain education independence—ownership of responsibility, formation, and outcomes.
Lastly, Amanda Weeden, a New Hampshire mom who has seen the damaging effects of school choice in her state, will discuss how she feels like members of her local GOP, known as the Free Staters, are trying to silence the independent homeschooling movement.
Not every option leads to character formation or human flourishing. This week is about using choice to pursue the best choice: education independence, rooted in ownership, responsibility, and freedom. When financial hardship threatens that path, the answer is not redistribution or compulsion, but cheerful generosity: families, churches, and private benefactors willingly supporting one another to meet real needs.
Tune in to Refining Rhetoric all week during School Choice Week and join the conversation that asks not just what we choose, but what we are willing to own.
