Parents’ rights, yes. But parent responsibilities, too

Every so often, a single moment defines an election. Richard Nixon sweating during the 1960 presidential debate, Michael Dukakis grinning in a tank in 1988, Delaware gubernatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell’s ad seeking to reassure voters that “I am not a witch” in 2010. In 2021, we witnessed one of those moments when Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe, during a debate with eventual winner Glenn Youngkin, said, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

If the preceding 18 months of COVID-related school closures and re-openings, miscommunications, frustration, and conflict had added up to a mountain of kindling, McAuliffe’s declaration provided the spark. Fairly or not, the ensuing back-and-forth made it look like Democrat McAuliffe was dismissing parental concerns. Republicans saw an opportunity to connect with frustrated parents. And they haven’t looked back.

Over the next two years, states including Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, and Utah created or expanded private school choice programs to universal or near-universal status. By the end of 2023, more than a third of all schoolchildren in America were eligible to participate in such programs (EdChoice, 2023). In the wake of prolonged school closures and post-pandemic concerns about learning loss and student well-being, school choice advocates had a compelling argument for giving parents more options.