Policy of any kind is shaped by those most affected. In education, the hardworking families who entrust the school system with the development of their children are the only ones who understand what meets their child’s needs. For meaningful progress in academia, lawmakers must realign with parental demands and enact school choice reform.
“Parents’ voices are among the most reliable indicators of what’s actually happening in classrooms. As Vladimir Kogan argues in No Adult Left Behind, parents’ assessments of school quality track far more closely with student learning outcomes than do those of administrators or even voters,” Washington, D.C., based education policy analyst Aidan Grogan told the Washington Examiner.
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“In other words, when parents raise concerns, they’re usually responding to genuine instructional shortcomings, not politics. Amid all the noise of adult interests and bureaucratic priorities, parents remain an essential signal,” Grogan added.
Grogan makes a strong case. When parents lead, students succeed, and the federal government is well aware of it.
After parents demanded decisive education reform, President Bill Clinton signed the Goals 2000 Act, followed a year later by President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. Today, hardworking American families are once again urging lawmakers to take up the mantle and champion a federal push for school choice.
In the nation’s largest public school system, New York City, 63% of NYC parents support the expansion of charter schools. Across the country, 74% of voters support school choice.
A study conducted by the James Madison Institute has shown that Florida became the first state in the nation to have more students enrolled in alternative forms of public education than their assigned local public school.
As Grogan stated, the “parent demand for school choice is a recognition that the one-size-fits-all model no longer works for many families. Over the past decade, parents have seen wide and often inexplicable variation in quality between schools, and have grown skeptical that traditional public schools are capable of adapting to students’ individual needs. The pandemic accelerated that skepticism by creating a huge rift between parents and public schools/school boards.”
The Department of Education’s newest National Report Card makes Grogan’s point unmistakable. As test scores fall, achievement gaps grow, and standards slip, one solution stands out: empowering parents through federal school choice reform.
Parents across the nation continue to advocate greater access to school choice and affordable alternatives to traditional public education. Although the One Big Beautiful Bill Act created $7,000 scholarships to advance this goal, the amount remains insufficient for many families.
Given that the average cost of educating a single student is approximately $18,000, low-income households often cannot afford the difference. As a result, federal efforts to expand educational opportunity have fallen short. Policy analysts widely acknowledge that the current child tax credit provides inadequate support for these families.
“The existing credit represents a promising first step toward equalizing access to educational opportunity, but its current cap leaves many families, and particularly middle-income families, unable to fully benefit,” Grogan said. “Expanding the credit would not only broaden participation but also catalyze the supply side of the education market: encouraging the growth of high-quality microschools, hybrid academies, and specialized providers that respond to demonstrated parental demand,” Grogan added.
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Lawmakers must respect parental concerns and expand tax credits and schooling options that benefit all Americans.
The mothers and fathers of America, who see firsthand the toll of a failing education system on their children, refuse to accept this status quo. They will continue leading the movement for meaningful, lasting reform until quality education becomes a reality for every child.