Public schooling struggles with diversity. From early battles over the Bible to current fights over race, gender identity, prayer and more, public schooling – in which all must fund a single system of government schools – inevitably pits people with diverse values, needs and backgrounds against each other.

But why are conflicts burning especially hot now?

Covid-19 set the conditions, creating clashes over in-person instruction and masking that many saw as having literally life-and-death stakes.

The murder of George Floyd added fuel, prompting many public school officials to target systemic racism – discrimination built into American institutions – and conservatives to demand colorblindness and an emphasis on America’s basic goodness. Graphic novels, such as “Gender Queer,” with graphic depictions of sexual activity, and other books on hot-button topics sparked dueling accusations of “hate” and “indoctrination.”

This all happened amid rapid demographic and social change.

In 2000, the US population was 71% non-Hispanic white. By 2020, that was down to about 58%. Gay marriage support skyrocketed from 27% of Americans in 1996 to 77% in 2021, while the share of people belonging to a church, synagogue or mosque plummeted from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020.

What can deescalate education politics?

Not “parents’ rights,” a term that can encompass useful things like requirements that districts share curriculum information, but sometimes seems invoked so that just one group of parents will get what it wants.

Giving parents more say does nothing to change a system that forces diverse people, including parents, to fund – and fight to control – government-run schools.

Freedom is the answer: Attach money to students – as many other countries do – and let families choose among diverse options. This can be accomplished through universal education savings accounts, such as Arizona recently enacted, scholarship tax credits and other choice vehicles.

Regardless of how it is done, the goal of choice is to enable diverse families to access education they think is right rather than forcing neighbor to defeat neighbor to control public schools.