What I have to say here are by no means my final thoughts on the subject of school choice initiatives. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure what I’m sharing here could even be considered “complete thoughts” because they’re still brewing. Perhaps, you can just think of this post as being akin to the aroma of percolating coffee that is not yet ready to drink.
While I do have some strongly developed thoughts on education, generally, my developing thoughts on school choice are mainly born out of a couple of recent interactions from two different ends of the spectrum arguing against school choice.
Representing the far right, I was recently on CrossPolitic to discuss education, generally, and when the topic of school choice came up, the conversation soon devolved—at least on this topic—into the typical political pundit soundbites.
Representing antagonists of school choice on the far left, is Peter Greene, an education curmudgeon (self-named) who begrudges every inch gained by the Christian education movement working to reclaim quality, moral education for their children and their communities.
The opening paragraph of one of Greene’s recent articles laments,
In 2023, school vouchers got a double shot of steroids. In 2024, the push is on to inject more religion into education, by changing what we have long assumed the First Amendment says about religion and the government. More clearly than ever, some advocates vsee a path toward “taking back” education and creating a system of taxpayer funded Christian schools.
To begin with, I suppose one would have to pretend the modern, secular, naturalist worldview isn’t religious to make the case he is making. One would have to pretend there is such a thing as neutral education—that arithmetic or biology, for example, were not grounded in religious worldview.
Indeed, no education exists that is not underpinned by some “religious” worldview. Even the positivists are making a moral claim when they claim one cannot be made, objectively. Therefore, to be honest and admit this is the case, one would then have to acknowledge public education today is already religious. It’s just a different religion than Christianity. It is a religion much of modern society has become conveniently comfortable with—naturalism.
Another almost-thought comes to mind here. Abraham Kuyper’s work in education is a model worthy of study in our present “school choice” debates.
As a statesman, clergyman, and even Prime Minister of the Netherlands, he worked to effectually remove education from politics by getting legislation passed that allowed State educational funds to be “redirected” (no new money) toward establishing religious private schools whenever a district had enough practitioners to justify its establishment.
He reasoned thus: since, in a pluralistic culture, all affirm with conviction their worldview is closest to reality and want to educate the population according to their conviction; and since there is no temporal, autonomous authority to determine which is actually true with the certainty each demands, to be fair, public funds should be dispersed equally.
In Greene’s article, he quoted a tweet by Katherine Stewart which said, “America’s Christian right is taking direct aim at secular public education, but let’s not forget that it is also after the money.” The money the “religious right” is after is their own money. Why should one people group be forced to pay for someone else’s education then have to turn around and foot the bill for their own children’s education. That’s unjust. It’s stealing via taxation.
If secularists are so bent out of shape about taxpayers getting to direct their tax dollars somewhere that counts, let’s just abolish the whole public education thing and let everyone keep their money so they can use it to educate their children their own way. If a specific community sees a need for a public school—and I would argue there are some legitimate reasons for having one—fund it and operate it, locally.
In sum, I believe public education as it currently exists should be dismantled at the federal level entirely, at the state level with some limited claim on its citizens’ education, and left to counties and townships within the state to levy taxes, locally, and oversee “public” education, locally.
And, for what it’s worth, I am not opposed to ESA’s blanketly. Not all ESA’s are created equally and not all “political fallout” that will be created by corrupt politicians trying to do an end-around with tax dollars to save their “precious” should be blamed on ESAs. Neither should the abuse of the money by slothful parents be blamed on ESA’s. All of these are matters of the heart in human beings. Any abuse of gifts and resources should be accounted for there. Otherwise, one falls into the same train of thought that wants to ban guns because of gun violence or alcohol because some irresponsible people get inebriated and drive intoxicated.
Finally, for what it’s worth, I am highly opposed to school choice vouchers funded by microgrants—new money being levied to fund private religious education. I’m not a socialist for crying out loud; I just want parents to retain their agency in their own child’s education without being robbed by the state first to pay for an education they don’t affirm.
More to come…
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