Many families are crossing an Educational "Red Sea". They're not looking back.

We need to adjust our thinking. Now.

In the arc of human history, public schools are relatively new. Birthed in the early 19th century (and a little earlier in Britain with the Clapham Sect), they grew out of the Great Awakening and served to raise the quality of life for individuals around the world while teaching an agreed upon (not relativistic) morality. As long as parents see this as the purpose of schools, I believe they will happily support them. However, what we have seen recently in many districts around the US has raised serious concerns

If the exodus from the public school system has taught us anything over the past two years, it is that parent voices matter. In fact, not only do they matter - THEY ARE ESSENTIAL! The bravado of some educational and political leaders to dismiss foundational moral, ethical, and academic concerns these past two years has been on full display, and a mass departure has ensued (see Minneapolis, San Francisco, Virginia, etc.) .

Healthy families are the foundation of thriving societies. It is time to think differently about the role families will play in the future of public education to regain their trust. Otherwise, public schools will continue to watch families cry out, "Let my children go!" as they free their children from the clutches of dangerously regressive ideologues and pass through a metaphorical Red Sea, never to return again.