The California court decision that essentially bans homeschooling has sparked a lot of concern, and rightly so. The decision quotes this revealing and chilling statement from a California court case in 1961:

A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare.

Seldom do the defenders of the government education monopoly reveal in such forthright language the true purpose of their position; they are training children to be loyal subjects of the state, not free citizens of a republic. The logic behind support for a government education monopoly and opposition to school choice is chilling and clear.

These fundamentals are too often obscured or lost in a forest of concerns regarding standards and curriculum, even in the case of those, such as Sol Stern and Diane Ravitch, who profess a desire to promote American values.

To all who feel a twinge of sympathy at the mentioning of civic education and patriotism, just remember the patriotism and attachment to American civic traditions that fueled the American Revolution grew from a diverse population without a government education system.

And remember that our private schools do a better job teaching the principles and structure of American government and American history, the knowledge of which most often leads to a natural, uncoerced, organic patriotism that is the strength of this country.

Freedom, not state indoctrination, creates good American citizens.