Recently, a public school teacher shared her thoughts with me in a TikTok video. She acknowledged a fundamental flaw in our education system: the relentless focus on teaching to standardized tests. However, she argued that public schools are still necessary for several reasons, such as supporting children from unhealthy home environments or parents who may lack the skills to teach them. Her conclusion? Public schools, even when flawed, must always exist.
While I respect her perspective, her arguments highlight deeper systemic problems that can’t be fixed by maintaining the status quo. Justifying a flawed system by saying it’s better than nothing isn’t enough. To truly serve children and society, we must fundamentally change how we approach education and funding.
The Case for Funding That Follows the Child
A key issue in this debate is how education is funded. Public schools currently monopolize funding, regardless of whether they meet the needs of the children they serve. Families who opt for alternative education—microschools, co-ops, or mentorship programs—must pay out of pocket while still funding public schools through taxes. This unfair dynamic forces many families to stay within a failing system simply because they can’t afford to leave.
But what if funding followed the child? Instead of automatically funneling taxpayer dollars into public schools, those funds could be allocated to the educational option each family chooses. This approach would empower parents to seek out innovative, personalized solutions that meet their children's unique needs.
When resources are tied to students rather than institutions, competition drives improvement. Schools and educators must innovate to attract families, leading to a higher quality of education across the board. In a system where funding follows the child, families gain freedom, educators gain flexibility, and children gain the education they deserve.
Public Schools’ Failure to Prepare Adults for Parenting
One point raised in the teacher’s video stood out: many adults today feel unprepared to educate their own children. But isn’t this failure a glaring indictment of the public school system itself? Public schools are meant to equip students with life skills. If they consistently graduate individuals who lack the confidence to guide their own children’s learning, how can we consider them even remotely successful?
An effective education system would empower individuals to navigate life’s challenges—including the responsibility of parenting. The fact that so many graduates feel incapable of this essential role only underscores the systemic failures of the current model.
Beyond the False Dichotomy of Public vs. Homeschool
The debate is often framed as public school versus homeschool, but this false dichotomy misses the point. Education outside government systems offers a rich variety of options: community learning hubs, microschools, co-ops, online courses, and mentorship programs, to name a few. The beauty of these alternatives lies in their flexibility and diversity, which allow families to craft an educational experience tailored to their needs.
Unfortunately, overregulation in states like New York and California stifles this creativity. Bureaucratic red tape makes it harder for alternative models to flourish, keeping families trapped in a one-size-fits-all system. Deregulating education and redirecting funding to follow the child would unleash a wave of innovation and make diverse educational options more accessible to all.
Supporting Single Parents Without Public Schools
The teacher also justified public schools by citing the challenges faced by single parents. As a single parent myself, I understand these challenges deeply. But instead of using single parenthood as a reason to cling to a broken system, we should focus on empowering families to find better solutions.
The assumption that single parents can’t educate their children without public schools ignores the power of community-driven education. Parents already come together to share resources and create rich learning environments. By allowing funding to follow the child, single parents would gain access to these opportunities without being financially burdened by a system they no longer use.
Preparing for the Future, Not the Past
Public schools were designed to produce obedient workers for factory jobs. But the world has changed. AI and automation are reshaping the job market, and the future belongs to creators, entrepreneurs, and problem-solvers—not workers trained for roles of the past.
Our education system must evolve to foster creativity, critical thinking, and risk-taking. Raising children to become entrepreneurs, rather than employees, should be the goal. A funding model that prioritizes the child, not the institution, would enable this shift.
A Bold Vision for Education
The teacher’s video underscores how much work remains to be done. But the solution isn’t to keep propping up a failing system. It’s to reimagine education from the ground up, starting with funding that follows the child.
When families are free to choose the best educational path for their children, we unlock the potential for true learning and innovation. This is the kind of future I want for my child—and for every child.
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