The School Choice Threat
Homeschool parents are wary of the mainstream narratives surrounding education – public, private, or homeschool. Our caution is rooted in an abiding desire for freedom: freedom to provide an excellent, customized education; and freedom to protect our children from becoming casualties in an increasingly hostile educational environment. The strength of our homeschool freedom was built on a foundation of independence and consistent refusal of government funding. We ask for nothing but the freedom to educate our children as our conscience dictates.
But there has recently been a shift in the narrative. Traditionally cautious homeschoolers have found themselves swept up in a movement that has been gaining steam across the nation, and even right here in Idaho. As Republicans and Democrats debate the merits of various education settings, models, and funding formulas, school choice funding is now at the forefront of most political conversations about education.
Touted as the miracle that will save the American education system, school choice proponents hawk sales-pitch slogans like vendors at a carnival, make lavish promises, downplay risks, and patronize concerned homeschoolers as if they are uneducated children who should be seen, but not heard.
Idaho legislators have been bombarded by school choice lobbyists for several years. Every year that school choice legislation has been proposed, Idaho’s homeschool community has emphatically responded, “No, thank you!” After a number of resounding defeats, these special interest groups changed tactics. They flooded key 2024 primary races with money for the express purpose of unseating legislators who voted against school choice. They play to win – no matter the cost.
These special interests want 2025 to be the year of “school choice victory” in Idaho. As homeschool parents, we need to stand up against what has become the biggest threat to homeschool freedom in a generation. This isn’t hype. This isn’t fear. This is decades of experience defending and expanding homeschool freedom in Idaho. This is the wisdom of a generation that saw parents jailed for homeschooling their own children and did something about it. This is thousands of hours of research on the dangers of government funding of private and homeschools. This is the history of school choice in other countries. This is the voice of the watchmen on the wall. We are not alone: homeschool organizations that fight for freedom across the country are sounding the alarm. We must protect homeschool freedom for the next generation.
Look behind the curtain for yourself to see how school choice puts homeschool freedom at risk.
What Is School Choice?
PREVIEW: “School Choice” is a national movement that claims to increase education choices for parents.In reality, when all education options are state funded, all choices are government choices.True choice will be eliminated.FULL FEATURE: The School Choice movement...
School Choice Slogans
PREVIEW: Fund Students, Not Systems: This slogan is fundamentally flawed because every government program requires a system to fund, implement, enforce, and regulate. The Idaho Constitution actually requires the state to fund systems, including a “thorough system of...
The Unesco Connection
PREVIEW: UNESCO advocates for, and school choice creates, a single payer system for all education models, including homeschool and private schools. The biggest proponent for school choice is the American Federation for Children, which has ties to UNESCO. Funding for...
Does it deliver on its promises?
PREVIEW: No, school choice does not deliver on its promises. School choice funding programs do not cover the typical cost of resources needed for children with special needs. Access to IDEA funding requires working through the public school system, even if parents...
Educational Socialism
The school choice movement has become the Golden Child of conservatives across the country. But is school choice really conservative? The resounding answer is absolutely not! It is more like the conservative approved educational socialist welfare system.First, we need...
What does it really cost?
PREVIEW: School choice legislation consistently costs taxpayers more than projected. In states like Arizona, costs are approaching $1 billion, threatening to bankrupt the state. School choice funding constitutes a NEW cost for states. School choice costs...
Who is pushing it?
PREVIEW: Who is pushing school choice? Parents who are desperate for a way out of the public school system. Legislators who think that the government should fund ALL education models (not just the one required by Idaho’s constitution). Curriculum providers and...
School Choice in Other Countries
Freedom Lost The path from educational freedom to educational bondage has been traveled before. See the evidence of the footprints left by those who have gone before. Learn from those who have lost the freedom that we currently possess. “Vouchers: School Choice Trap,”...
The Final Curtain
Because freedom is not about having unshackled hands. Freedom is about having unshackled minds. - Volodymyr Zelenskyy Take the time to read the research contained on these pages. The proof is there at your fingertips! When you educate yourself, you protect yourself,...