Reasons to Exit the Public School System
The news is filled with horror stories from behind the curtain of the public-school classrooms, and more and more parents are considering removing their precious children from this toxic environment – but they have questions, such as:
- What if I'm not qualified?
- Is removing my children entirely from the public schools the right thing to do?
These are reasonable questions deserving reasonable answers.
The Big Picture
To answer the first question, being a good teacher doesn’t require a degree. It requires the parent’s love and commitment to the child’s morally-based education. Statistics bear this out. Homeschooled children educated by parents lacking a high-school diploma do FAR better than government-schooled children, even on the government's own standardized tests![i] Now, let’s dig deeper and examine the reasons why...
It is undeniable that if our culture continues its current trajectory, our children will face a future void of the most basic freedoms and rights that we and our forefathers in America have enjoyed, especially as public schools eradicate any mention of God and biblical standards of morality.
For a healthy society, the proper moral and practical education of its citizens, from child to adult, is absolutely fundamental to the success of that society.
Consider the following classic quotes supporting this principle:
"If Virtue & Knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great Security." - Samuel Adams, February 12, 1779
“I feel ashamed that so many of us cannot imagine a better way to do things than locking children up all day in cells [age-segregated classrooms] instead of letting them grow up knowing their families, mingling with the world, assuming real obligations, striving to be independent, self-reliant and free… It is time that we squarely face the fact that institutional school-teaching is destructive to children.” – Educator John Taylor Gatto[ii]
The quotes above refer to the end goal of education, i.e., to build virtue and character into our children. This cannot be neglected or dismissed. If we seek to win an archery tournament, we aim for the bullseye, not the perimeter. Virtue and character are the center of the target of education. It is not only what we know, but how we apply what we know that counts. Our ultimate purpose is to teach knowledge based upon a biblical worldview, as opposed to the extreme pagan worldview of Humanist bureaucrats pushing radical ideas contrary to the Bible, such as sexual perversion and gender confusion (SEL), racism (CRT), phony history and science, and promoting enmity between children and parents.
Thus, to be good parent-teachers, it is not necessary to hold a special degree.
After all, who cares more for your children, you or the hundreds of public-school teachers who would be discipling them for the most foundational 12+ years of their lives?
Building on Solid Ground
When building a home, every contractor knows that the most critical element of the entire structure is the foundation. If the foundation is faulty, it won’t matter how beautiful the house appears, the entire structure will eventually collapse. Jesus emphasizes this principle in the parable of the Wise Builder.[iii]
But Is It RIGHT to Pull My Children Out of Public School?
Building a sure foundation takes a concerted, continuous commitment to be educated in the truth of God’s Word and His principles, which obviously doesn’t happen by osmosis. One or two hours a week in church can’t begin to build the moral and intellectual footings needed to withstand the vicious attacks on biblical truth waged by the state education system and media. Thus, surrendering education to the state devoid of God will result in a faulty foundation that won’t hold up under the tempestuous winds and waves of life.
The Bible clearly states it is the highest priority of parents and the church to educate each new generation.[iv] Fulfilling this command greatly benefits both parent-teachers and students. Learning together, pursuing God together, and sharing a love for God’s truth builds strong familial bonds and creates a firm foundation of knowledge and faith.
There is no higher duty and no greater privilege for Christian parents than to raise their children “in the ways of the Lord”[v] and there is no greater ambition for youth than to seek a well-rounded education based foremost upon the moral and practical principles of Scripture. Obeying the biblical directive to teach our children is not optional, it is essential.
Likewise, we must follow the biblical directive to seek wisdom like fine treasure.[vi] This is the foundation upon which all successful families and societies are built.
This doesn’t mean that every parent must possess the complete knowledge and ability to personally teach their children every subject; but is there a biblical precept that encourages parents to send the children off to countless strangers for twelve years of their lives for their entire education – and all within a setting that censors the Bible? Could it be that we find our society in its current predicament because the Church - and the families who make up the church - surrendered the education process into the hands of the state over one hundred years ago?
The good news is that we are still able – especially in America – to turn the tables on the radical declines we have seen in public morality and practical functionality. We start by realizing all children are unique creations made in the image of a loving God who has gifted each one in ways that will complement the purposes for which He has created them.[vii]
Children are capable of learning far more and considerably faster than we imagine when they’re not forced to be taught at the same pace as others of the same age, to fall-in behind those who do not have the same moral code, or to blindly obey the instructions of those who have no vested interest in their lives.
Our Father is true to His promises. If parents follow His ways, and obey His instruction to teach their children His ways... when sitting at home and when walking along the road, when lying down and when waking up… He promises, “That it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”[viii]
All Ideas are NOT Equal!
If you are concerned about the failures of government-funded public education, the content of its ideas with its rapidly declining moral conditions, the loss of freedom from which previous generations benefitted, and most importantly, the secularization of society that is its result, it would be wise to seriously consider a biblical worldview education for your children.
A well-rounded biblical worldview education offers what cannot be attained in your neighborhood K-12 school. Proverbs 23:7 states, “As a man thinks, so he is.” What the people are taught to believe, they will, in large part, become. Therefore, those who hold the responsibility of teaching also hold power to guide the direction of our culture – and that person should be you, not strangers.
Parents: There is no one on this planet who loves your child more than you! With God at your side and His Word guiding your steps, you are uniquely more qualified to teach your child than any other.
Don’t doubt this truth. Taking responsibility over your child’s education is the right thing to do!
For further questions and assistance, contact PublicSchoolExit.com.
This article was extracted from the biblical worldview booklet titled, “Christianity and Education” available at GTImin.com.
[i] Why You Don't Have to Be a Certified Teacher to Homeschool (howdoihomeschool.com)
[ii] John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, 2004
[iv] Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 6:7, 11:18-19, Ps. 78:4-7