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When I attended a much different public school in suburban Maryland, there was a public service announcement on TV that asked: “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your children are?”
I was usually in bed at that hour on “school nights,” but that question might be put a different way today: “It’s 9 a.m. Do you know what your children are being taught?”
Many parents don’t have a clue what is being fed into their children’s minds and spirits, or they learn after the fact. We’ve seen the news reports of parents showing up at school board meetings to complain, but usually after the fact and with little effect.
Most people are familiar with the debates over transgender athletes on female sports teams and in girl’s locker rooms, gender identity and other social subjects. How many parents know about subjects being taught that come from a secular-progressive worldview?
According to the National Assessment of Education Progress (known as the Nation’s Report Card), nine-year-old children are doing better in reading and math than children their age in previous years, but older children (13 and up), who came through the disruptions of the Covid pandemic, continue to stagnate in those subjects.
School Choice is sweeping the country. For parents who might struggle with the cost of private schools, especially in states that won’t allow this option, a new federal law might help.
It’s called the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC), also known as the Education Freedom Tax Credit. Starting next Jan. 1, 2027, taxpayers will be able to claim a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit of up to $1,700 annually for donations to qualified programs that grant scholarships. It even allows religious schools to participate and will pay for tuition, tutoring, technology, transportation and services for children with special needs.
According to David Bass of the Philanthropy Roundtable, “More than two dozen states have already opted in and additional states are under pressure to follow. If fully implemented across the country, the program would cover roughly 90 percent of K-12 students.”
This is where philanthropy can do some of its best work. Bass believes the next 18 months are crucial to the program’s success because it will inevitably face political pressure from opponents.