Schooling Policy Begins with a Decision About Authority

Abstract: Every child gets assigned to a public or private school chosen by some adult. The question is which adult should hold that authority by law and exercise it in practice. Our Federal Constitution recognizes the authority of custodial parents; but our systems of tax- based schools effectively dethrone working-class parents and the poor; most of whose children get assigned by government strangers. America must decide whether it trusts only those parents who can afford to pay. A host of practical considerations favor the effective empowerment of all custodial parents for the good of the child, the parent, the family and society.