9th Circus Rides Again

They don’t call it the 9^th circus for nothing. Now the court has ruled that parents have no right to have any say over their children’s educational experience. There are enough others that will take issue with that, so I won’t have to.

But this little excerpt from WND’s article quotes the actual ruling.

We agree [with the previous ruling], and hold that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students. Finally, we hold that the defendants' actions were rationally related to a legitimate state purpose. [emphasis Reinhardt's].

What I find interesting is the final sentence in the quote, where the court holds that the actions were rationally related to a legitimate STATE purpose. Schools are not there to educate your children, they are there to fulfill a legitimate state purpose, at least according to this ruling. Whoever pays the bills ends up setting the rules.

The purse strings are the control rods of any organization. From private schools, to local community schools, to public schools, to state funded public schools, to nationally funded public schools. As government has taken a bigger and bigger role in the funding of educational institutions, it’s control has grown larger and larger. Your community has no say in what happens in your school. The best you can hope for is that your city will act in accordance with your beliefs.

This is the problem with all of the “voucher” programs. A voucher, even with statutory independence, can be used by the issuing authority to incrementally issue rules and regulations for their use. It could begin quite benignly with reporting rules necessary for redemption, but eventually end up with rules for application. And statutory rules can be changed at any time by another statute.

An educational tax credit for families would probably insulate the money enough, since the parents are the ones getting the money back from the government. The most palatable idea for state funded education is for ALL parents to get tax credits for their children, and let the parents decide which institution, whether “public” or private get their money.

In the mean time, the ideal educational option for your children is gong to be one that you pay for. Out of your own pocket. When you own the purse strings, you retain control.