Government

Like every society, our government has vital interests in the education of its people. But what that means and how that has been exercised by the government—at all levels—has varied widely.

Consider the following statements about NWEF's approach to the role of government in education:

• The government is helped when citizens are educated, but citizens are not best served when their only opportunity is government education.

• In the Constitutional Republic, the government has a role in facilitating and empowering the education of its citizens.

• Education results in better funding of government through the economic stimulation that it fosters, both now and in the future.

• Government has a responsibility to protect citizens from the economic and societal risks of a monopoly in education.

• Citizens are best served when education is local and consumer-based.

• Government should support more public/private partnerships to increase educational competition, diversity, cost efficiency, and opportunity.

Since the government currently holds a monopoly over education, it plays a huge part in any  discussion about American schools. 

Exactly how involved the government should be in our school systems is a topic that warrants great debate and careful study. NWEF chooses to address the role of government as one of our five core principles because the government is the gatekeeper of school choice and ultimately has a great deal of control over each child's education regardless of the kind of school they attend.