Parents are waking up. 

After decades of being told to “trust the system,” families across America are deciding they no longer want schools or bureaucrats to determine what their children learn, how they think, or even what values they embrace.. 

From dining room tables turned into classrooms to voucher-funded scholarships opening doors to new schools, the education revolution is already underway. It’s called reclaiming parental authority, and it’s fueling both the homeschooling boom and the school choice movement.

This shift didn’t happen overnight. 

COVID-19 shutdowns forced parents to take a front-row seat in their children’s education, and many didn’t like what they saw: curricula stripped of rigor, politicized lessons, and a system more focused on bureaucratic compliance than genuine learning.

At the same time, parents began to realize just how little say they had in shaping their child’s academic and moral foundation. What started as frustration has turned into action, as more families than ever before are taking ownership of their children’s future.

The Homeschooling Renaissance

Homeschooling’s rise has been dramatic. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, parents are choosing to homeschool for a variety of reasons, including safety concerns, a desire for religious or moral education, better academic outcomes, and strengthening family bonds. 

Research underscores strong academic outcomes, with over 78% of peer-reviewed studies showing that homeschooled students perform significantly better than their public-school peers. Many systematic reviews confirm this pattern, particularly when parents invest in high-quality, customized learning. Homeschooling also offers safer, more supportive environments, free from bullying and peer pressure, and cultivates traits such as self-discipline, creativity, and strong college outcomes. 

Admittedly, homeschooling presents several challenges. Teaching your child at home demands intense dedication, legal navigation, and creative socialization efforts. Regardless of the hurdles, homeschooling is growing in popularity, and the data support this education option. 

 

Homeschooling represents a profound reclaiming of educational agency, as families craft instruction around their child’s unique abilities and needs.

School Choice: A Marketplace of Empowerment

School choice has become a popular topic of discussion and has sparked a vigorous debate on both sides of the issue. Homeschooling moms exchange heated words expressing excitement or fears, while public school advocates argue the pros and cons among themselves. Legislators debate on the Floor, while voters mull over the issues in the ballot box. 

From vouchers to Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), from tax credit scholarships to charter and magnet schools, the fight for educational reform continues. 

However, at its core, school choice is about empowering families with educational authority, and this movement is gaining significant momentum. 

A recent federal initiative, part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” creates the first-ever federal tax credit scholarship program: donors who contribute up to $1,700 to qualified Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) receive a dollar-for-dollar, nonrefundable federal tax credit. Unlike traditional vouchers, the program is federally funded and doesn’t draw down state education budgets. 

Nationally, 28 states plus Washington, D.C., now offer school choice using public funds. Twelve of them pursue universal access via vouchers, ESAs, and tax credits. States like Mississippi and North Dakota are spearheading expansion. Mississippi’s new “Education Freedom” committee celebrates the empowerment of parents, though critics warn it risks weakening public schools (and the battle rages on).

Benefits of Choice 

Nearly every aspect of life offers both pros and cons. There are always two sides to every coin, and cause and effect will always exist. However, when it comes to school choice, the pros generally far outweigh the cons, especially when we are seeking to reclaim parental authority in education:

 

1. Parental Influence: Families can choose schools aligned with their values, learning styles, or safety priorities 
2. Competition and Innovation: School choice creates incentives for public schools to improve
3. Access to Better Schools: Vouchers and ESAs allow students stuck in underperforming schools to attend safer or more effective environments 
4. Scale and Impact: Florida’s tax-credit scholarship program has steadily boosted private-school enrollment, and homeschooling skyrocketed. Indiana’s voucher program now covers over 70,000 students, representing a 32% increase in a single year. 

A Glance at Cons

• Public School Funding Erosion: Some argue that school choice siphons funds from public schools 
• Equity Gaps: Voucher users often come from better-informed, higher-income backgrounds, not always those in greatest need 
• Accountability & Religious Concerns: Without oversight, some private or religious institutions may discriminate based on beliefs or identity 
• Business Over Public Good: Some charter networks, especially for-profit ones, risk commodifying education 

These criticisms should not be dismissed, but they also shouldn’t distract us from the central issue at hand: who decides how a child is raised and educated.

Why Reclaiming Parental Authority Matters Most

The honest debate isn’t just about dollars, data, or test scores: it’s about who holds the reins of a child’s education. 

For too long, parents have been treated as passive spectators while institutions dictate both content and values. The rise of homeschooling and school choice flips that script, placing mothers and fathers back where they belong: in the driver’s seat.

Reclaiming parental authority means more than picking a school from a list. It means restoring the family as the primary shaper of a child’s moral, cultural, and intellectual formation. Parents, not bureaucracies, decide whether a curriculum aligns with their faith, whether their child is safe, and whether the pace of instruction nurtures actual growth.

Yes, the policy details matter. Funding formulas, accountability measures, and access programs all play a role. But at its core, this movement is about reclaiming the God-given responsibility parents have always carried. Whether through homeschooling, vouchers, or charter options, the central principle is the same: parents, not the state, are the ultimate guardians of their children’s future.

And that is why, despite legitimate criticisms, the battle for school choice and homeschooling is worth fighting. The clash isn’t simply over educational methods; it’s over authority itself. 

Will we continue outsourcing our children’s formation to systems that too often undermine faith, family, and excellence? Or will parents rise to reclaim what was always theirs to begin with?

Learn more about reclaiming education and culture by downloading our new e-book Reclaiming Edcuation and Culture