Our K-12 education system is a monopoly, and like any other monopoly, the customer (child) suffers from lack of choice and competition.  Our children are being held captive in a failing system where markets are not allowed to work. As it turns out, parents, especially moms, know that the key to improving our education system is to allow for market forces to drive innovation and create an enviroment that responds to the needs of children, instead of just propping up the status quo.

School choice received a blow in Louisiana today when the Supreme Court deemed funding for vouchers unconstitutional. Last April, Governor Bobby Jindal expanded school choice, including scholarships offered for up to 5,600 students for the current school year. More than 10,000 students applied for 5,600 spots in private and religious schools this year, and were selected by a lottery. The program was set to be expanded next year with nearly 8,000 students approved for vouchers with more scholarships expected to be approved in June.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith attended traditional public schools, but chose a different path when it came time to choose how to school their own children. The Smiths have a son and a daughter, both of whom were educated both through homeschooling and in private schools. Their daughter, however, decided she wanted something different for high school. 

Florida Governor Rick Scott has signed a new educational reform bill into law which some are calling “an education revolution.” This bill is aimed at revamping high school education in the state of Florida that will lead to more students being able to get a job upon graduation. 

When it comes to education reform, there is a lot of misinformation out there. While it has been shown time and time again that school choice is a win-win situation for everyone involved, there are those who continue to argue against it. Perhaps a little empirical evidence will change some minds.

This school year, Virginia Kruta made the leap from private schooling to homeschooling her four children. Virginia attended public school through sixth grade, then moved to a Christian prep school until graduation. Her husband Jim attended private Christian school through eighth grade, then attended the same Christian prep school. So, with experience in both public and private schools, what made this family to decide that homeschooling was the right fit for their family? 

The fate of school vouchers in Tennessee will be decided tomorrow, and there is an usual fight brewing. The problem doesn’t seem to be whether or not to offer vouchers, but how many and to whom. Arguments over these details could lead to vouchers being scrapped altogether. 

On today's edition of The FreedomCast, Director of Grassroots for FreedomWorks, Whitney Neal joins me to discuss several school choice bills currently making their way through the Texas legislature and why school choice is the civil rights issue of our times.   You can support FreedomWorks' efforts in Texas and on behalf of children everywhere who deserve school choice.

Meet the Thompsons, a homeschooling family from Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson both attended traditional public schools, but decided they wanted something different for their own four children. So, how did this family decide that homeschooling was best for them, and what happened next?

Republicans are beginning to coalesce around School Choice with Senators Rand Paul and Lamar Alexander’s amendment.  Senator Ted Cruz of Texas began with a rallying cry in his key-note address at CPAC declaring “education is too important for it to be controlled by bureaucrats in Washington, taking choices away from parents and kids…We need to champion school choice – the civil rights issue of the next generation.”  Not only is Senator Ted Cruz correct about school choice being the civil rights issue of the next generation, but it is the civil rights issue of this generation.