The Public School Monopoly Forces Kids to Learn Secular Humanism. We Need More Options.

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation declaring this
week, Jan. 20-26, as National School Choice Week.

The proclamation expresses concern about performance of U.S.
students in international surveys: 24th in reading, 25th in science, 40th in
math. And it ascribes the cause of these disappointing statistics to the
“consequences of the limitations imposed by a largely one-size-fits-all
approach to education.”

It makes all the sense in the world to appreciate the value
of bringing the marketplace and competition to education. Free markets serve us
extremely well in delivering goods and services. Why shouldn’t one of our
nation’s most important institutions—education—also benefit from competition?

It is ironic that the political left extols the importance
of diversity while also wanting government monopolies.

The conclusion should be the opposite. The more diverse a
customer base, ethnically or any other way, the more diversity you need among
suppliers to meet and serve the unique needs of different communities. This can
only be achieved in free, private markets.

Statistics on the changing ethnic profile of the students in
our public schools speak for themselves.

In 1997, 63.4 percent of the students in our public schools
were white and 36.6 percent were minority—black, Hispanic, Asian, and
multiracial—students. By 2014, 49.5 percent were white and 50.5 percent were
minority.

The projection from the National Center for Education
Statistics is that by 2026, 45 percent of public school students will be white
and 55 percent will be minority.

Parents of these minority communities should have freedom to
choose an educational framework for the diverse needs of their children. Suppliers
in a dynamic marketplace will listen to those parents, try to understand the
unique needs of their children, and serve them.

This is exactly the opposite of what you get with a
government-controlled monopoly and union bureaucrats.

However, the country is not just becoming increasingly
ethnically diverse. It is also becoming increasingly diverse regarding values.

At the nation’s founding, it was almost universally accepted
that education would include the Bible. “One great advantage of the
Christian religion,” said John Adams, “is that … the duties and
rights of the man and citizen are thus taught from early infancy to every
creature.”

The Northwest Ordinance, passed in America’s first Congress in 1789 said: “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”

This sentiment carried well into the 20th century, until
court decisions began, step by step, purging any presence of the Bible in
public education.

Did these decisions improve our public schools, making them
more value neutral? Certainly not. They simply politicized education, replacing
Judeo-Christian values with prevailing politically correct secular humanist
values.

Currently, 24 states and the District of Columbia mandate
sex education in their public schools. According the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 72 percent of schools in large urban districts provide
education regarding pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

What exactly are the values, the worldview, through which
issues such as marriage, sex, and pregnancy are being taught in these schools?

Black communities have already been hurt by the secular
humanism of the welfare state. Since the 1960s, the incidence of single-parent
black households has tripled.

It makes sense that black parents would want to send their children to Christian schools so that these values are transmitted as part of their education. Shouldn’t parents have this right?

In a country with widely growing diversity in religious
identification and values, the only answer is parental choice in education. It
brings the efficiencies of the marketplace and the principle of religious
freedom to schools.

Parents must fight for the right to choose where to send
their children to school.