Focus on the Family's Parental Rights Statement

What does it mean that you have the right to direct your child's education?

PARENTAL RIGHTS IN EDUCATION

Focus on the Family is committed to the institution of the family and its defense because we believe that God has ordained the family as the most fundamental institution of social order for the benefit of humankind. As the oldest of all human institutions, the family exists to propagate the race and to provide a secure haven in which to nurture, teach and love the younger generation. This is the teaching of both biblical and natural law. These truths are so self-evident that even the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights recognizes them in Article 16:

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family….The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and state.

Judeo-Christian law charges parents with the responsibility for the education of their children.¹ From this fact we may deduce that a primary parental right is educational freedom, or the right to determine their children’s education. Furthermore, parental choice in education is a human right that logically flows from freedom of conscience. In other words, because of the “first liberty,” or religious liberty, “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given their children” (Article 26, United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights).

Because the created order and the Bible teach that children are entrusted to parents by God to provide them with a safe and secure environment to learn about God and his creation, what is true and what is false, and what is right and what is wrong, we steadfastly oppose any and all domestic and international efforts of social parenting movements that would define children as wards of the state.

In the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, “The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the state.”² Likewise, we strongly oppose radical civil libertarians who would undermine parental rights and authority in the name of the “children’s rights movement.” Since the parents are trustees of their children, and not the state, they have the right to decision-making in their children’s education.

Because schools stand in loco parentis (i.e. representing the parents), parents should have the freedom to choose the school which best corresponds to their own world view and values, be they religious, non-religious, or even anti-religious. Parental choice in education safeguards families land a democracy’s schools against a paternalistic government school system that is ultimately totalitarian

Former U.S. Secretary of Education, Lauro F. Cavazos, stated the following: "Parental choice in education empowers families at a time when many people feel powerless and helpless before large, impersonal bureaucracies. Choice gives a sense of responsible stewardship to parents and students, as well as to teachers and administrators. When families choose a school, parents and students become discerning consumers with a sense of proprietorship for the product they have selected. Choice encourages distinctiveness and differentiation among schools. This leads to the development of schools with a specific character, climate, and flavor to appeal to the different learning styles of students. With these accompanying attractions, choice reduces dropout rates, increases teachers’ satisfaction, and encourages parental involvement and accountability."³

Parental choice in education is a right that calls for the fundamental reconstruction of American education. It requires a system of education which affirms the rights of parents to choose for their children the school that best fits their values, beliefs, and children’s learning needs. Choice grants to the family control and ownership of their children’s education. This family empowerment promotes community involvement and “neighborhood” schools which are customer-oriented and sensitive to competition.

An educational system which affirms the right of parental choice fosters genuine pluralism for America’s schools by acknowledging and encouraging diversity of learning theories and styles, educational goals, and religious and philosophical ideologies. This form of educational pluralism envisions a democratic society bound together in relationships of cooperation and partnership between parents, school, and government. In this way parental choice in education offers us a new educational charter to live together with our deepest differences.

Because a democracy’s school system stands in loco parentis, it is diametrically opposed to any idea that the state is parent. Unfortunately, the tentacles of the modern welfare state have muddied this idea, threatening both parental rights and democracy itself. Again, in the words of the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights, “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.” Logically, it can be inferred from this fundamental human right that parents should be granted the freedom to excuse their children from offensive curricula and classes, the distribution of condoms, or educational philosophies and methodologies which are counter to the parents’ beliefs and values.

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