While Christians focus their attention on electing government officials who will protect the unborn, the battle rages for who will vote to elect protectors for the children already born. For years, the socialist-leaning segment of America’s voters has dominated the policy of our public schools. And this has had a huge impact.

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A recent study of 18-29 year-olds conducted by Barna Group found that two-thirds of youth raised in church abandoned their faith. A Lifeway survey published in USA Today found the same results. Another survey conducted by America’s Research Group concluded that 75 percent of youth who attended public schools had abandoned their faith by the time they graduated from high school.

We are in a battle for our children’s salvation, and while Christian schools may offer a biblical worldview, many parents cannot afford the tuition. Currently, 80 percent of Christian parents send their children to public schools. Therefore, we must pray for alternatives to education that will allow parents to be in control. As a nation, we will continue to lose more of our children the more we submit them to socialist educators who believe the child belongs to the government and not the parent.

Due to the COVID pandemic, parents’ educational options include learning pods, microschools, homeschooling, private tutoring, distance learning, charter schools, and online schools. A parent may choose any one or a combination of the above. It’s an impressive menu of options. Already the left is attacking educational choices where parents have the most involvement.

Learning pods consist of small groups of students who meet in a parent’s home for group instruction. Learning pods have experienced explosive growth, with 35% of parents currently participating in a learning pod and 18% expressing an interest in joining one. This explosive growth has alarmed progressive politicians. Now, 19 states have either imposed new or expanded regulations that will negatively affect a family’s access to learning pods.

Microschools are private organizations that offer teachers or classroom facilitators for hire to small groups of students. Both learning pods and microschools are under attack from the National Education Association (NEA) who issues opposition reports on schools that display any modicum of success.

Homeschooling enjoys some protection under the law and gives parents the most latitude in decisions of curricula, religious education, and extracurricular activities. Their growth has not gone unnoticed by the authorities. However, homeschooling has found some protection under the law because of past court cases and negative press by state authorities who forcefully removed homeschooling children because, according to elected authorities, “the children belonged to the state.”  

Educational alternatives that offer the most parental choice, especially regarding curriculum choices, and the least amount of government supervision, have received accusations from the left as undemocratic, elitist, and posing an existential threat to American education. Some go so far as to accuse parents of racism for removing their children from failing public schools.

Whether or not these innovations that are gaining popularity in education will remain and parents will be allowed to have more say in their children’s education will be determined by whether the progressive candidates win in the contentious national elections or not.

President Trump came to office in 2016, strongly supporting school choice. The President and his appointment for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, have suffered fierce criticism because of their stand for the right of parents to choose their child’s school. For a taste of the unprecedented opposition, just Google her name and see the gleeful, hateful posts about her potential departure from her post if Biden becomes president.

During a recent speech at Hillsdale College, Secretary DeVos said, “At the end of the day we want parents to have the freedom, the choice, and the funds to make the best decisions for their children.” Secretary DeVos is firmly convinced that a child belongs to his parents, not to the government, and that the government has a responsibility to support parental rights. Her stand has not come without a fight. Since taking office, a record 455 lawsuits have been filed against her. This is more lawsuits than any other Secretary of Education in our history, and DeVos has only served four years.

While the battle rages for which presidential candidate will win the 2020 election, another war  persists in the background which if lost promises severe consequences for our nation’s future.  For years, America’s public schools have inundated our children with socialist, Marxist teachings causing them to embrace anti-God, anti-family, and anti-country ideals. We looked on as many of our precious children drifted away from us as they succumbed to beliefs that led them away from God. Thank God, we have reached a point where there is a crack in the enemy’s lines. There is light. But it remains to be seen if we will press into this mountain of education to achieve a complete victory.

About the Author: Nancy Huff is an educator with a mission to equip believers to pray strategically for the Cultural Mountain of Education. She has authored Taking the Mountain of Education: A Strategic Prayer Guide to Transform America’s Schools. She leads prayer groups to pray at key educational locations across the US. Currently, Nancy serves as the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network (HAPN) Lead Prayer Coordinator for the Mountain of Education. For additional information go to: https://takingthemountainofeducation.com/author/nancyahuff/ (Photo Credit: Getty Images.)

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