{"id":6424,"date":"2023-10-23T14:49:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T14:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/?p=6424"},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:54:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T17:54:06","slug":"how-texas-is-becoming-the-frontlines-for-parents-first-school-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/2023\/10\/23\/how-texas-is-becoming-the-frontlines-for-parents-first-school-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"How Texas Is Becoming the Frontlines for Parents-First School Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is a showdown brewing in the Texas House of Representatives this week concerning Governor Greg Abbott\u2019s effort to bring school choice to all Texas families. Senate Bill 1<\/a>, known as the Texas Education Freedom Act, passed the Senate last week and now awaits a vote in the House, where some Republicans from rural areas previously blocked similar bills earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Texas Education Freedom Act would allocate $8,000 per student toward the education avenue of their family\u2019s choice \u2014 potentially providing a pathway out of the public school system. There is opposition, of course \u2014 lawmakers beholden to the teachers unions who get them elected and maintain the misplaced belief that the government, not parents, must control the reins of childhood education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For far too long, K-12 public schools have been viewed as the only experts when it comes to educating children. Parents\u2019 fundamental responsibility to serve as the primary educators of their children has been outsourced to these government institutes, where the vast majority of children remain trapped. But school choice has the power to upend this equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should be a partnership between the home and school \u2014 with parents having ultimate authority over their children\u2019s learning \u2014 has been pushed aside under the guise that professional educators actually know best. The National Education Association \u2014 the largest and most powerful teachers union in the world \u2014 tweeted<\/a> last November: \u201cEducators love their students and know better than anyone what they need to learn and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing could be farther from the truth \u2014 it\u2019s moms and dads who have been with their children since birth and clearly understand what\u2019s in their best interests. And, it\u2019s moms and dads \u2014 not teachers, no matter how beloved \u2014 who remain in their children\u2019s lives long past each school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children belong to parents \u2014 not the state and certainly not the public education system. And it\u2019s time parents are valued as the most important player in their children\u2019s education.<\/p>Keri D. Ingraham<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The value of parents in the education process has been minimized and, in many cases, removed. While the notion that schools know best has taken root for decades, public education bureaucrats, teachers union leaders, and their political allies have doubled down in recent years. And teachers have followed suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is far more than a matter of parents not being viewed as essential assets in education \u2014 they literally aren\u2019t welcome. This summer, the National Education Association \u2014 the largest teachers union in the world \u2014 held its annual representatives assembly. They released a video on their social media channels showing teachers holding signs that read<\/a>: \u201cKeep your nose out of my classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This comes on the heels of efforts by teachers unions to keep schools closed and learning disrupted during the pandemic for up to three years in some states. During that time, parents had a front-row seat to see exactly what their children were being taught \u2014 or the lack thereof. Parents were unsurprisingly concerned. But as they voiced those concerns, they were shot down, silenced, and pushed farther away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When public schools finally reopened for in-person learning, parents were told they could not enter classrooms or school offices in the name of safety. The truth is far more worrisome: Parents aren\u2019t welcome in public schools because educators don\u2019t want them there. This is a far cry from the education philosophy at many private schools, where parents are treated as essential partners in their child\u2019s journey through learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make no mistake: Schools exist to provide quality academic learning content that supports parents\u2019 effort to rear their children \u2014 not to isolate children from their loved ones.  Yet, the dominant philosophy in public schools insists that parents are not essential partners in the process \u2014 and that school employees know best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking it another step, President Joe Biden believes children collectively belong to the nation, not parents. In an address to teachers in April, he drove down on this misplaced notion claiming<\/a>: \u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as someone else\u2019s child. Our nation\u2019s children are all our children.\u201d Biden\u2019s near-communist mindset is extreme and, yet, brought into effect by American educators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children belong to parents \u2014 not the state and certainly not the public education system. And it\u2019s time parents are valued as the most important player in their children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, K-12 public schools have failed to effectively educate the vast majority of children. More money<\/a> put into the system has proven to not be the solution. There is a better way. It\u2019s time parents are empowered via their tax dollars to select the educational avenues that best support their own values and allow for the most active involvement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to historic parental rights and educational freedom achievements in the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions, 10 states have passed universal or near-universal school choice laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And next year, additional states including Alabama and Georgia are also poised to push for school choice. That means moms and dads of K-12 children across the nation will be free to educate their kids as they see fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These states have recognized that children belong to parents \u2014 not the government and certainly not public schools. It\u2019s time for Texas to become the 11th state to pass universal school choice empowering parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For far too long, K-12 public schools have been viewed as the only experts when it comes to educating children. Parents\u2019 fundamental responsibility to serve as the primary educators of their children has been outsourced to these government institutes, where the vast majority of children remain trapped.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":441,"featured_media":6425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[1462,47],"tags":[1757,1369,1534,591,762,1911,1488,1058,1916,934,1922,338,78,205,1918,270,984,85,335,84,72,74,1919,83,936,1917,1905,1915,1914,1920],"coauthors":[1073],"class_list":["post-6424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parental-rights","category-school-choice","tag-2022-legislative-session","tag-2023-legislative-session","tag-alabama","tag-education-freedom","tag-educational-freedom","tag-empowering-parents","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-governor-abbott","tag-greg-abbott","tag-home-and-school-partnership","tag-joe-biden","tag-k-12","tag-k-12-education","tag-lawmakers","tag-national-education-association","tag-parental-authority","tag-parents","tag-president-biden","tag-private-schools","tag-public-schools","tag-school-choice","tag-special-session","tag-teacher-unions","tag-texas","tag-texas-education-freedom-act","tag-texas-house","tag-texas-house-of-representatives","tag-texas-senate-bill-1","tag-texas-special-session"],"acf":[],"author_names":["Keri D. Ingraham"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/441"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9966,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6424\/revisions\/9966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6424"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6424"}],"wp:action-assign-author":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post\/6424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}