Public education does not have to mean a monopoly of poorly-run government schools teaching curricula contrary to parents’ wishes. Instead, public education could mean investing in students and families directly, and providing them with opportunities and options. From homeschooling and “podding” to private schools, charters, or magnets, there is no single model that fits every child’s needs and every family’s values. A plethora of academic studies have shown that school choice has benefits from the academic, such as higher test scores, to the cultural, including higher rates of marriage, lower rates of divorce, and lower crime rates in adult life.
