A school choice revolution is sweeping the nation. Ten states have passed universal education choice initiatives in the last two years. In addition to private school tuition, most of these new programs allow families to use their children’s taxpayer-funded education dollars to cover certain homeschool expenses. 

The loudest and most influential pushback against school choice comes from Democratic politicians in the pocket of the teachers unions, who want to protect their monopoly over education. However, others have voiced the opposite concern that school choice could increase government regulation of private education. 

The concern that “with government shekels come government shackles” is understandable, but misplaced. Shackles can be imposed even without subsidies, and states that have education choice policies tend to respect homeschooling autonomy more than those that don’t. 

School choice is always voluntary. No school choice policy has ever forced a family or a school to participate. All families and schools can weigh the costs and benefits and make their own decisions. 

Let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the good. As economist Thomas Sowell often reminded us, “there are no solutions, only tradeoffs.” School choice isn’t a perfect solution, but it’s the most viable option we have today. America’s education system would be much better off if every family had access to the learning environments that worked best for their children. 

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Jason Bedrick is a research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. 

Corey DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children.