As a parent, shepherding your children’s education is a vital part of your role in shaping their character development and worldview formation. Whether you homeschool, choose private school, or even use public school, you are ultimately the one who chooses your child’s educational “who, what, and where.” Whose ideals, what worldview, and in what space will your student be formed by? You have ownership of your children’s education paths.
Regardless of what education option you choose for your children, the government is actively undermining your right and authority as a parent to own your children’s education. It is the government’s natural inclination to control and legislate everything it touches, whether appropriate or not. Even when we think we’ve escaped government influence, it continues to find ways to slither into our homes and education spheres unawares. This is because public-school systems, state education standards, and subsequent public education programs (such as school choice policies) are built on the assumption that the government, not parents, is responsible for and has ownership of your children’s education.
To uncover how parents unknowingly sacrifice their ownership and responsibility, we must ask: “Where did the idea that the government is responsible for education come from?” and “What do we need to watch out for so that parents can retain ownership rights?”
The Quiet Takeover of America’s Classrooms
In the early to mid-nineteenth century, two men, Robert Owen and Horace Mann, introduced communist ideology to U.S. schools, which kick-started a radical shift in education that is still in effect today. Both men were the frontrunners and inventors behind what the current-day public school systems look like. They both:
- chased utopian fantasies,
- believed in government-run education, and
- desired to create a paradigm of control that would long outlive them.
Following is a more specific idea of what each man accomplished and how their ideas influenced modern-day public schools:
Robert Owen (1771–1858) |
Horace Mann (1796–1859) |
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In short, these two men and their ideas of an indoctrinated, utopian, communist society are why government-run schools exist. Their motives were never about genuinely seeking better education; they were rooted in desires for control—pivoting culture from the interests of the family to the interests of the collective. The government inserts itself into education because it not only wants responsibility for your children, but also influence and control. As Owen said, “To train and educate the rising generation will at all times be the first object of society, to which every other will be subordinate.”
To learn more about these men’s motives and their impacts on education, read “Global Utopia and Government Schools” (Robert Owen) and “The Hypocritical Public School Evangelist” (Horace Mann).
What Do We Need to Watch For?
You may have heard or repeated the popular slogan, “I don’t co-parent with the government.” This sentiment is one that most parents readily agree with. However, while we may chant this slogan with pride, politicians continue to push programs that, on the surface, support this idea, but underneath create ways that parents unknowingly share parenting responsibilities with the government.
The Dangers of School Choice
A common misconception about school choice is that by taking money from vouchers or education savings accounts (ESAs), families are free to take ownership and choose their own education path, independent from the government. The issue with this idea is that, by nature, private education is no longer private when public dollars are funding it.
Here’s the truth of the matter: school choice programs, such as vouchers or ESAs, are all public programs funded by public dollars. These programs, like the public schools they promise to help families move away from, operate under the assumption that the government is responsible for your children’s education. The government may not literally be in your home, but its jurisdiction unavoidably invades your home when public dollars are used to meet personal family education needs. Receiving school choice money is synonymous with co-parenting with the government. The promise of freedom becomes the tool that brings oversight and ownership.
Own Your Children’s Education
The Education Independence Initiative believes wholeheartedly that parents have ownership of their children’s education. You have the freedom to choose the education path for your children, but owning that choice requires being aware of the consequences. If we truly “don’t co-parent with the government,” then school choice money cannot fund our education choices.
Independent Parents and Independent Funding—two of Education Independence’s foundational pillars—are necessary to educate our children responsibly and with excellence:
- Independent Parents: “God trusts parents with their children and so should we; therefore, we affirm that parental rights come from God and should be protected from the state.”
- Independent Funding: “Education is the responsibility of the family, with support from fellow believers; therefore, we recognize that the financial obligation remains on parents, with support from private, voluntary benefactors.”
When you give up ownership of your children’s education and hand it over to the government, the Robert Owens and Horace Manns of the world will keep growing. The government will continue to find ways to slink into your home, and it won’t leave simply because you ask it to. We must take ownership of our children’s education and refuse government funding. We must be watchful and prepared to stand our ground, even when tempting policies come our way.
Hold fast and keep persevering. The education of children is the responsibility of the parents, and Education Independence is here to provide you with support and resources for your education independence journey. Take a look at the additional resources provided below, and sign up for one of our monthly Virtual Seminars to continue the conversation!
Additional Resources
- Read Parents: Equipped by God to Be Educators for encouragement about your role as a parent.
- Read School Choice Tax Funding is Cheese in a Mousetrap to explore more ways the government encroaches on parental authority.
- Listen to Robert Bortins on Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey discuss the history of public education, school choice policies, and the importance of education independence.
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