Is it time to abandon government schools and public education?

“The biggest illusion is that sending your kids to a government school is free. It’s the most costly thing you could ever do.” R.C. Sproul

Trigger warning! Is it time to give up on public education? Should Christians be offering a more affordable alternative? Jeff Durbin from Apologia Church has offered seven reasons why he thinks public schools ought to be abandoned. What would you add to the list?

1. Public schools specifically teach a worldview that is antithetical to the Biblical worldview.

2. Public schools indoctrinate children with a perspective on origins, ethics, art, truth, math, logic, and history that is devoid of Christ.

3. Public schools are a fairly recent thing in American history. Before that, education was private and largely dominated by the Christian church.

4. Public schools are doing discipleship. That is the role of parents and the church.

5. No parent can make up for the classroom hours in a humanistic system at home. No parent is spending 30+ hours a week specifically instructing their child in the Biblical view of the subjects their children are learning in school.

6. Nowhere in Scripture do we have any justification for giving our children to the State to be indoctrinated in an effort to send our kids as missionaries. Our kids can be missionaries without having them delivered to the State.

7. Funding for public schools is done through unjust coercive taxation. No American can truly own property due to public schools. This is very unjust and a sinful foundation as a source of funding.

That’s a start on the discussion.

In the following video, Voddie Baucham and R.C. Sproul, Sr. discuss the importance of Christian education in the discipleship of our children and the dangers of allowing secular institutions to educate our children.