H.Oles Mann, the founder of what is now known as the public education system, was not shy about his goals. “We who are in the sacred cause of education have the right to assume that all parents have taken hostages to our cause,” he said. .

Decades later, Mann’s views remain the cornerstone of educational institutions. Public schools actively discourage parental involvement in curriculum selection and seek to punish parents who disagree. For example, in the states of Maryland, Oregon, and Michigan, parents who have requested a school’s public records (information to which they are legally entitled) about the curriculum being taught in the classroom are required to access the material. A parent in Rochester, Michigan said the school district tried to charge her a $172,951.67 public records fee after she filed a FOIA request. .

Similarly, it is standard policy in most public schools to hide important information about the mental and physical health of gender-confused children from parents. , urged not to “go out” with transgender students by telling parents about new pronouns and names. New Jersey issued similar guidance, reminding schools that “district officials have no affirmative duty to notify a student’s parent or guardian of a student’s gender identity or expression.”

Deception and secrecy are intentional. Institutions believe that children are theirs, just as Mann was. Families either acquiesce in this and hand over their children’s education to public schools, or they are treated like roadblocks to be torn down.

It should come as no surprise that many parents across the country are eating well. because he promised to return to his parents. Last week, he kept that promise by releasing guidance that would ban public schools in his state from socially transitioning children who were gender-confused behind their parents’ backs. Parties must obtain written parental consent before using a student’s new name and pronouns.

Jonkin’s reason is simple. They belong in the family,” he said this week. “Parents need to be at the center when their children are grappling with important issues, and that’s what these policies are all about.”

Youngkin’s policies impact the core goals of the institution. It replaces parents as the ultimate authority over what their children are taught and how they are raised. The next step is to allow families some form of school choice so that they can leave the public education system entirely. But at least for now, Virginia parents can be assured that Mann’s vision of a system full of hostages is beginning to crumble.