Government-funded private education has always been a hot topic, with its pros and cons being debated by parents, educators, and lawmakers alike. And as more and more families have been seeking alternative ways to educate their children over the last couple of years in particular, these funding options have become the subject of even more attention – especially when politicians are talking about signing “school choice laws,” as Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds did last week.

Some homeschool families are welcoming these government-funded programs as a great way to cover some of the costs associated with homeschooling. True, these programs may seem like a great idea at first glance. After all, we do pay taxes that support the local public schools, even though we don’t use them; so is it unfair for us to expect that we get at least some of our hard-earned money back – especially when we can use that money to cover the costs of our own God-honoring, family-focused curriculum and resources?

It’s important for homeschool families to understand the risks associated with accepting these “school vouchers” or any other form of government funding for homeschooling. One of the most important reasons why we choose to homeschool is so that we can exercise our God-given parental rights over our children’s education. God has entrusted parents, not the State Department of Education, with deciding what our children learn, when they learn it, and how they learn it. But when you accept money from the government to pay for anything related to your homeschool, you are relinquishing the rights to be the ultimate decision-maker. Whoever puts down the money for a child’s education is the one who controls it. If you get nothing else from this article, please remember that.

If you agree to take “school vouchers” or any other form of funding from the government for your homeschool, you’re essentially giving away your autonomy and control over your children’s education in exchange for money. They are offering you a cash bribe to buy the rights to control what your child’s mind is filled with. The government will now reserve the right to dictate which curriculum you use, what you teach, and how it is taught, in order to ensure that the money they are “giving” you is being used as they intend it to be. And if they decide that your standards aren’t matching up to theirs, they will now be able to twist your arm behind your back and force you to teach what they want you to teach, or else lose access to the money (or worse).

Whoever puts down the money for a child’s education is the one who controls it. Are you okay with having your God-given freedom as a homeschooling parent limited like that? Are you willing to comply with the stipulations in these government funding programs that will compel you to indoctrinate your children’s minds with the same humanistic, God-hating propaganda that they would be receiving if they were in public school?

“Only when education is completely private can it be free from tyranny.” ~ Israel Wayne

I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions! Feel free to leave a comment.

All for our King’s glory,
Christian

P.S. There is an excellent chapter on this topic (and many others!) in Mr. Israel Wayne’s book, Answers for Homeschooling: Top 25 Questions Critics Ask. If you don’t have a copy of this book, it’s one I highly recommend. It will help equip you to have confidence in your decision to home educate and to prepare you to defend your choice to the skeptics you’ll surely face at one point or another! Get a copy here from ChristianBook.com.

image by Jantanee | Lightstock.com