Many American parents feel forced into sending their children to the public school system and believe they rely on the state to provide them with a wider range of options via school choice programs. But do these programs provide parents with choice, or do they only fund the choices parents already have?
Why Is School Choice So Popular?
It is understandable why school choice is such a popular policy. Parents report feeling trapped in the public school system; legislators are campaigning and winning elections on the promise to solve this problem; and the solution offered is to “fund students, not systems.”
That message resonates with millions of Americans, and so, education savings accounts (ESAs) and vouchers have become a featured position of the conservative political platform.
Is School Choice the Solution?
One reason that many claim school choice is the obvious, simple, no-foul solution to the challenges facing parents is that they believe it gives parents more school options by giving them public money to pay for those options.
However, it is Education Independence’s position that the current trend of school choice programs is not creating new options. It is only publicly funding existing legal pathways. To break down this idea, let’s compare a common myth in education and the definition of parental authority.
Are Parents Forced into the Public School System?
Some parents operate under the belief that they have no choice but to send their children to the public school system.
This feeling is so prevalent that politicians claim school choice is the answer because it supposedly provides parents with the choice they need to escape the public school system through the state redistributing public dollars into private pockets.
In 2025, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas posted a quote on his Facebook by educator Shandranika Jones saying, “School choice is very important because it allows parents to have control over their children’s education.”
Is this true? Do parents need school choice to give them control and authority over their children’s education?
Parents Are Not Legally Forced to Send Their Children to Public Schools
Allow me to begin with a provocative statement: Parents are not legally forced into the public school system. Unlike countries such as Sweden, which effectively banned true private and home-school options due to government expansion in education, parents can legally choose to pull their children out of public schools and send them to private alternatives.
Some states have indeed implemented bad policies that complicate this process. And of course, a family may experience external pressures or hardships that “force” the hand of parents to choose public schools. But the key idea there is that they still choose the public schools; they are not actually forced by law into it.
So, the idea pushed by many school choice advocates—that school choice provides parents with the choice to choose private school options—is untrue. No government program can give parents the right to make educational choices; it can only elect to fund the choices they already have.
So thankfully, parents do have the legal choice to make educational choices for their children. But an additional distinction that must be made is that the authority of parents to direct the education of their children supersedes the funded options of the state.
Parental Authority Comes from God
It is important for parents to remember that parental authority is the God-given duty of parents to properly own and direct the upbringing and education of their children.
The power and authority of government programs like school choice are derived from the government. Parental authority gets its power because it is given by God and supersedes any human jurisdiction or authority. Parental authority does not derive from the state, so it cannot be granted or allowed by the state.
“The simple reality is ‘school choice’ is only expanding the taxpayer funded options that parents can select from. If the government is telling parents what their options are, the perception of authority is only an illusion. To illustrate, if the state gives you ‘choice,’ then the state can take it away, and parents were never recognized as the authority in the first place.” —Top 10 Misleading Claims of “School Choice.”
If parents believe public schools harm their children, they are accountable to God to remove them, not to wait for the state to finance their obedience.
Parents, Remember Your Authority
If you are a parent feeling discouraged because you feel you do not have “educational choice,” remember how much has already been won. Consider the legal gridlock that bound education forty years ago and the long work that has been done to restore educational freedom. Still, the central question is not choice but responsibility.
Parents have a duty to direct their children’s education. If you are a citizen concerned about the political forces pushing children into public schools, remember your opportunity and responsibility to advocate for laws that uphold parental authority to keep the government in its lane. Above all, be grateful that, in America, parents still retain the legal freedom to act on their God-given responsibility. That is not a blessing to take for granted.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
READ Parents: Equipped by God to be Educators by Elise DeYoung
READ Who Really Owns Your Children’s Education? by Elise DeYoung
LISTEN Robert Bortins on Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
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