Ways to Support Education Reform

rstinson10
May 25
4 min read

Updated: Jun 17

Many Americans are very much aware of the problems with the public school system: most of us want to support education reforms but we don't know what to do. And even though the current administration is trying to reform public eduction and is making some advancements in doing so, public schools are largely controlled at the state and local levels. In other words, it is more important to make changes locally, rather than federally.

Many of the reforms that the vast majority of Americans want and which we agree are needed will not be made because we continue to support the status quo, either directly or indirectly. The level of unwavering support people continue to provide to a failing and abusive public school system, even in the face of obvious structural and management problems, can almost be considered as a type of worship. If you want things to change in the public school system, you must change the way that it is supported. The public school system operates in the same as an addict operates: if you give an addict money, they will just spend the money on their addiction. We need to stop wishing of what "should" be done, and instead, do what is necessary to make effective changes today.

What happens if we don't make the necessary reforms? Do we do -- nothing?

What do we do if most states continue to allow boys to play on girls sports teams? Or if school violence continues (largely due to lax discipline policies)? Or when activist teachers continue to proselytize and indoctrinate in their classrooms, behind closed doors? Or when another 11 year old takes their life due to bullying? Or how about when a significant percentage of students do not meet literacy standards? We can't boycott these schools because they are a government agency.

Don't be a "keyboard warrior"! Instead of complaining about the problems with the public school system, be the change!

Practical Ways to Support Education Reform

Stop voting for increases in public school budgets. The funding provided to public schools is higher per pupil than in other similar countries, and schools do not need more money. The public school system has a management problem, not a funding problem.
Put yourself in a position to make changes. Attend or volunteer to be on a school board. Try to fill other leadership roles that will that help the school move toward a successful model of education. Be original and creative and propose radical changes: don't maintain the status quo.
Lobby your state or school district to minimize the curriculum to only the basics. We don't want teachers to teach an agenda-based curriculum. The public education system needs to demonstrate that it can successfully educate children in reading, writing, and arithmetic, achieving a high pass rate for these basic subejcts first, before other curriculum is added.
If you want to support the school system, give charitably (if you can): buy something off a teachers' Amazon wish list. Buy your neighbor some school supplies if you think they can't afford such supplies and have such a need. Donate to a school supply collection charity.
Be an informed voter. There are usually multiple education related bills going through your state legislature: school choice bills, public school budget increases, and bills that are aimed at changing the public schools either for the better or worse. Join the fight and vote for the true success of these initiatives. Support politicians who also support the principles of education reform and education freedom.
Share this article, memes or other articles from https://www.homeschoolgateway.org. Much of our content is aimed at bringing awareness to school choice and education related issues.
Patronize and send your thanks to restaurants and other businesses that support education reforms.

Join the fight against tyrannical school choice laws.

Support school choice without the voucher scam.

A common solution to the problems happening in public schools is for parents to pull their children from school to homeschool or use private schools. For homeschoolers, this sounds simple right? In practice, we need good, well founded and well thought out legislation to support education freedom, to make the choice to homeschool easier and more practical.

Obviously, as homeschool veterans, we support school choice and homeschooling. However, developing and implementing "school choice" reforms has its own set of challenges. These include the never ending changes that are implemented by out-of-control administrators and the passing of tyrannical school choice laws by our legislators, which is often done behind the closed doors of committee meetings. Also, since the cost of living is so high already (given the immense funding that is provided by our property taxes and state taxes for public education), school choice options are likely to be less financially accessible for many Americans, since in most states they will still have to pay for the public school system and its excessive spending.

"School Choice Vouchers" have become popular and it is our observation that many taxpayers support them because they believe that these programs will return tax dollars back to the families who choose not to use the public school system. These programs are being treated as a panacea for any possible financial challenges homeschoolers and private school families may face. However, they are all scams! School voucher laws only extend the control of unelected administrsative regulators over homeschoolers, and they actually limit education freedom. Any time that the government is given control of your money, they have power over you. This scam is very much like the "refund" scam you get on your income taxes. A better solution is to simply not confiscate the money in the first place, rather than instituting a scheme where money is taken, through taxes, and then returned with strings attached. These programs are also causing a huge financial burden on taxpayers since the monies used for voucher programs must come from the state budget (e.g.: your taxes).

If you are a supporter of school choice, we implore you to join the movement to help empower parents' ability to educate their children the way they see fit. There are many ways to support homeschoolers and private schools without voucher scams.

Here are some examples.

Click for ways to support school choice

Click to see our article about vouchers and why they are scams.

Click for reasons vouchers are scams