School Choice…Do we Really Have It? 

School choice is a topic which is gaining a wide audience in the public forum.  Most all of us, whether Republican or Democrat, Independent or Libertarian, fundamentally advocate school choice.  And why not?  Most of us are parents and the bedrock of school choice is “parental freedom to choose.” We all desire the type of education best suited to our family. 

You may be surprised to know that there are actually six different options available for parents here in Ohio:  Chartered Public (your local neighborhood state-funded school), Chartered Non-Public (usually private or religiously-based schools that also receive some form of state funds), Non-Chartered Non-Public (best known as 0-8 schools), Community Schools (also referred to as charter schools), Post-Secondary Option (provides for dual enrollment in high school/college courses), and Home Education (as defined in OAC 3301-34). 

Who says we don’t have options in this state!  This broad range of options should make any parent delighted!  However, as you review these various choices, there is one common denominator among most of them (except home education and perhaps 0-8 schools).  That thread is State control or supervision of the program.  The State Department of Education directs or supervises some aspect of each of these choices.  How can we say there is school choice for parents when the same government entity controls all the “choices”?  This is not choice – it is a monopoly! 

The same could also be said about the current voucher programs that are being advocated across the country.  Yes this “choice” may allow parents the option of where to send their child, but what about issues of curriculum content or testing concerns?  What if the parent does not believe in evolution and does not want their child taught that “theory”?  What option does that parent then have under the current voucher system?  The state money follows the voucher, but so do the state mandates and controls. 

For a myriad of reasons, home education has become the choice of many families.  Whether the decision be based on scriptural or philosophical grounds, fear for the child’s safety, negative peer influences, or curriculum content, parents are taking back their responsibility for educating their children.  This is the real choice and this scares the current educational bureaucracy!  It is destroying the monopoly they have over education. 

I think we will begin to see a backlash toward home education.  The current educational establishment will not go down without a fight!  Perhaps not overtly, but in subtle comments & innuendoes in the media.  A recent statement by President Clinton  “that parents need to prove that their children are learning” is one.  An article in the Akron Beacon Journal quotes State Superintendent Dr. Tave-Zelman as saying “she has grave concerns with accountability… if the state is increasing its emphasis on academic results, she needs proof that the homeschooled children will also be held accountable.”  I suspect these types of comments are just the tip of the iceberg. 

You may not have realized another aspect of home education which gravely impacts local districts…school funding.  Each child not enrolled in the local district costs that district approximately $5,000 in lost revenue.  With the growth of home education and community schools, you can see how this issue would quickly become one of the primary concerns for local school administrators.  Especially right now with so much attention being focused on the issue of school funding at the state level.  The Akron Beacon Journal article (which focused primarily on the various community schools being started) stated that $56 million in state and local monies went to community schools and is expected to double in the next few years.  The maintenance of the status quo is being seriously jeopardized.   

One recent addition to this bag of “school choice” under the option of community schools is the newly approved eCOT (Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow).  It is described as a fully on-line school with some of the benefits of a state education (free resources & computer, accredited diploma) and less of the problems (negative peer influences and safety concerns).  It’s charter emphasizes that it’s most prominent target market will be home school families.   

This sounds great, doesn’t it?  Why wouldn’t a family want to take advantage of this service?  And as icing on the cake…it’s free!  This article cannot begin to address all of the reasons to stay away from this “choice”, but suffice it to say…

·         Nothing is free!  Your neighbors are paying for this “school.”  And, if they are paying for it, there needs to be some level of accountability to them.

·         This is NOT home education!  You are choosing to enroll your child into the state education system and teaching him at home.  Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has already stated that a family cannot become a member of HSLDA if they enroll in this program because they are no longer defined as home educating families. 

Please beware!  This “school choice” for parents is not being offered for the purpose of giving families another educational option.  It is being used as the “bait” to lure these children back under the control of the state. 

Do we really have school choice?  I would respond by saying that we DO NOT because the choices are all individual tentacles of one large octopus…the State Department of Education.  Choice means the ability to say YES to our children and NO to all state control if we choose.  Be willing to “cut the umbilical cord” from the mommy state and choose to educate your children without any mandates from the state.  Take back the responsibility of training your children, as God would have you do.  I am encouraged by the number of families for whom God is “turning the hearts of the fathers back to their children.” Resist the urge to “return to Egypt” and forsake the high calling God has placed upon your heart.  He who has called you will give you the strength to fulfill it. 

May God grant each of us the wisdom and insight to see what is right and the courage to do it!