THE UNSPOKEN LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL CHOICE: IOWA'S STUDENTS FIRST THE UNSPOKEN LIMITATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL CHOICE: IOWA'S STUDENTS FIRST ACT

“Education, then beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machin- eyt — Horace Mann, 1848 INTRODUCTION Horace Mann, the “father of the common school” saw education “as the bedrock of democracy™ and believed it should be “universal, nonsectarian, [and] free.” Its “aims should be social efficiency, civic virtue and character, rather than mere leaming or the advancement of sectarian ends.™ While ed- ucation may still be the bedrock of our democracy, it has become less uni- versal, more sectarian, and—depending on the school—costly. For over a century, parents and politicians have tried to shape the way America educates its children. While public schooling has been the dominant form of K-12 ed- ucation for children in the United States, many families—for various rea- sons—have elected to send their children through private education systems. Over the last few years, as the world responded to COVID-19 and bitter pol- itics seeped into the nation’s classrooms, private schools have enabled par- ents to choose what kind of K-12 education their child receives.

Some par- cnts, for example, tumed to private religious schools to avoid having LGBTQ+ and sexual health education provided to their children. Others turned to schools that were more lenient on COVID-19 masking, testing, and quarantine requirements. The growing traction of private school flexibility in the current social-political climate has fucled what many call a “School Choice Movement."