A new federal “school choice” program that critics warn could impose government control on private education and homeschooling should be embraced by Democrats nationwide, argued Obama’s radical education secretary in a recent column. The fresh funding sources could help government spend even more hours shaping and molding the hearts and minds of children, he argued.

Writing in the far-left Washington Post, former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who served under Obama from 2009 to 2015, lays out a dire picture of where American students are at academically.  “Students at every grade level are slipping,” wrote Duncan and Education Reform Now CEO Jorge Elorza, calling new federal data on student achievement “a national wake-up call.”   

“Fourth graders struggle with basic reading,” the duo pointed out in the opinion piece for the Post, highlighting a persistent problem with illiteracy that continues to destroy millions of lives. “Eighth-grade science scores have declined. Twelfth graders are performing at generational lows in both reading and math. The cracks in our education system are forming early and widening across K-12.”

Of course, Duncan and Elorza are correct about this: the U.S. government’s “education” system is a dumpster fire of historic proportions that is handicapping tens of millions of Americans. The reality is even worse than they let on. Not only are students struggling with basic academics, they are also being indoctrinated and sexualized to an unprecedented degree. Many are now so brainwashed they believe they were born in the “wrong” body.

The call in the Post, though, is not a serious attempt to fix these problems. Instead, Duncan and Elorza are urging Democrat governors and legislators to embrace the “school choice” scheme adopted in the One Big Beautiful Bill to further the leftist brainwashing. This new funding stream, made possible by tax credits, could help Democrats regain the “educational (and moral) high ground,” they say.

Under the program created in the OBBB, as reported by The Newman Report shortly after passage, states can allow the creation of “scholarship granting organizations” (SGOs) to fund education expenses. Taxpayers who donate to these SGOs receive a tax credit for the money they donate. Then, states create regulations under which the SGOs distribute money to private schools and homeschoolers.

Duncan, following Obama’s leadership, worked hard over many years to further globalize American schools and weaponize the U.S. Department of Education against American values and traditional education. And now, he has high hopes for the new “choice” program. In short, he believes Democrat states can and will use these SGOs to funnel more money into leftist “education” schemes.  

“Governors won’t control the SGOs directly,” he acknowledges in the Post piece. “[B]ut they can shape their impact by promoting transparency and accountability [code words for control over private schools and home education], spotlighting those organizations aligned with their values, and ensuring that the students with the greatest needs are prioritized.” This is a naked call for Democrat governors to use the funding to control private schools.

Of course, this is the exact nefarious agenda that The Newman Report warned about in July when the bill was passed — and even before. As documented by The Newman Report on June 9, the House’s original language would have forced private schools taking the “free” money to obey costly, unconstitutional federal statutes and mandates that have further ruined education.

Of particular concern: All private school participants in the OBBB program — regardless of what state officials said or decided — would have been forced to obey the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). That would eventually embed Medicaid and the endless array of dangerous “mental health” programs in private education, experts warned. And that would be just the camel’s nose under the tent.

Duncan is not alone among leftists hoping to weaponize “choice” programs. A group of Obama acolytes known as Democrats for Education Reform is also urging the Left to embrace it all. The outfit was described by the New York Times as a “leading voice urging the party” to embrace “some forms of private-school choice — including the Trump program.”

Elorza, who leads that group and wrote the column with Duncan, attended a recent meeting of the Democratic Governors Association to promote the OBBB “choice” program. He told Democrat governors that opting into the scheme was “a no-brainer.” Among other benefits, he said even government-school children could use the money for “tutoring” and “exam fees.”

“This is literally free money,” Elorza claimed, “that is broadly supported by the majority of voters who have steadily drifted away from the party. It just makes sense.” Of course, it is not “free money” — taxpayers work hard to earn it. And just like the “free” cheese in mouse traps, the “free” money will be used to bait unsuspecting private schools and families into a trap. He knows that. So does Duncan.    

While the big teachers’ unions and many Democrats continue to resist “choice” programs, it is clear that the establishment left has joined forces with the establishment right on this issue. Indeed, as explained by numerous education experts, Barack Obama himself helped begin a shift among leftists and Democrats in favor of government-funded school “choice” such as charter schools.

None of these developments are surprising to those who follow the issues closely. In fact, as documented in an upcoming book by this writer and Classical Conversations CEO Robert Bortins, many of the biggest financiers of “school choice” are on the left. Billionaires like Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, and Mark Zuckerberg have all contributed in a major way. And it is not because they want better education.   

Even the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is embracing “school choice.” As reported by The Newman Report in its 2022 Global Education Monitoring Report, UNESCO believes offering government funding to “non-state education providers” such as private schools will allow governments to impose UN demands on them.

In response to Duncan’s activism on behalf of the “choice” program, conservatives are calling for Republicans to impose regulations on the SGOs, too. “State-level Republican governors and lawmakers need to impose strict regulations on SGOs, such as requiring curriculum reviews,” argued Mary Rooke, a columnist for the Daily Caller. Ironically, curriculum reviews are among the very dangers conservative critics warned about.

The whole program is a “Trojan Horse,” continued Rooke. “So, while the One Big Beautiful Bill Act allows the creation of SGOs without state approval, incorporating curriculum reviews could help prevent taxpayer money from funding Democratic recapture,” she added. “Republicans created a Trojan horse, and Duncan is telling Democrats exactly how to get it past the gates.”

Obviously, Democrats, totalitarian billionaires, and the UN are not supporting these tax-funded “choice” programs because they want to liberate more children. In fact, their actions and words show they all love the godless and leftist indoctrination, dumbing down, and sexualization that today define government “education.”

The real reason the totalitarian left and the broader establishment is embracing all of this is far more sinister. In short, they want to capture control over the hearts and minds of every child, including those now educated outside the system, by offering them “free” money in exchange for their freedom. Parents must resist at all costs.

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