“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.”
–St. Francis Of Assisi.
Are public schools unconstitutional? A provocative question, to be sure. But the thought that public schools might well be unconstitutional should not be summarily dismissed.
“Education consists mostly in speech, and parents have a right under the First Amendment to exercise authority over what their children hear.”
–Columbia University School of Law professor Philip Hamburger.
Professor Hamburger argues that the U.S. public school system violates the Constitution’s First Amendment. Forcing families to accept government messaging — or pay a steep price to escape it — amounts to unconstitutional pressure.
In Virginia, for example, the State enforces a compulsory mandate of education, but only funds public schools. This is viewpoint discrimination, not a neutral funding decision. Virginia mandates educational speech, then funds only the government’s perspective and withholds support from any other. That arrangement fails strict scrutiny. The State has no compelling interest in government-run education specifically, as opposed to education generally, and less-restrictive alternatives exist. The government could still fund education with taxpayer dollars, for example, while allowing the money to follow the child to the school or program that aligns with the family’s values.
Universal school choice resolves the constitutional problem while preserving public support for education. States can keep their compulsory-education laws and continue to provide education with taxpayer funding. The difference is that families, not the State, would direct that money to the schools or programs that best align with their values — public, private, religious or home-based. Funding would follow the child rather than force every family to be indoctrinated in a single government viewpoint.
This approach respects free speech. Parents who prefer the public system’s messaging can remain there. Parents who do not can exit without financial penalty. Every child still receives an education funded by the public, and no family is compelled to underwrite or accept speech it rejects for its own children. Force gives way to freedom.
GFK
Observations From The Fifth Estate 