By Carolyn Martin (CHEC Director of Government Relations)
Freedom Masquerading as Choice
I used to play tether ball on the playground when I was a kid. It was a simple game. Be the one in control of the ball when the rope it is tethered to is fully wrapped around the pole. The way I see it, this game is a great example of our government-run education system.
The pole the ball is tethered to is an entire government system that has been built around educating children. The elements of the education system, which includes teachers’ colleges, teachers’ unions, credentialing organizations for teachers and schools, curriculum pushers (including Planned Parenthood), state and federal education standards, school board organizations, various consortiums of educators, parents, and interested parties, large technology companies, and even United Nations guidance, all influence the direction of the system and are fed by it. This system was built to homogenize the nation around socialism.
The rope the ball is tethered to is government funding. It really doesn’t matter whether the left or the right of the political spectrum is in control of the system, the ball, which is your child’s education, will still be tied to the pole because the pole runs the system, not those playing the game.
Education freedom stands in stark contrast. Your child’s mind, heart, and soul are untethered from the system and are free to pursue truth, beauty, and virtue. A myriad of other ways to learn are unlocked and the ball is no longer moored to a broken, misguided, failing system. The ball is free to be used to play soccer, dodge ball, kickball, and more. Every time we use their system, or take government funding, we validate the system and give it permission to enter into our God-given domain of educating our children. We should not be surprised that they demand compliance to their rules when we willingly allow our children to be tethered to their system.
Part-time public-school programs can vary, but most incorporate some form of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs and its data tracking of your child’s beliefs, attitudes, and values. The latest flavor of school choice programs, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), enacted in states like Arizona and West Virginia, control the definition of “qualified expenses.” Ultimately, the state controls what resources you can use to educate your student. Watch for more state control as these programs grow and corruption enters the programs.
School choice advocates are selling parents a bill of goods that masquerades as education freedom but delivers only bondage to the very system they claim to free parents from. It is imperative that we protect homeschooling from being tethered to government funding. Discipling our children to fulfill their God-given purpose can never be accomplished if their education is bound to the pole!
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Trusting in the mighty power and grace of Jesus,
Carolyn Martin
CHEC Director of Government Relations
carolyn@chec.org
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