Government funding undermines educational independence by transforming parents from sovereign decision-makers into dependent recipients who must accept state oversight in exchange for financial support. This woke education isn’t theory. Right now, legislators across America are passing School Choice bills that promise freedom but deliver control, threatening the homeschooling movement that took forty years to build.
If you’re a citizen concerned about government overreach in education, woke ideology infiltrating classrooms, or simply want to preserve your family’s right to educate independently, you need to understand what’s really happening before it’s too late.
Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations, has spent years leading a community of over 45,000 families in classical Christian education. As a homeschooling father of three and host of the Refining Rhetoric podcast, he’s witnessed firsthand how families can build educational independence.
This article will show you why School Choice isn’t the solution to modern education problems, how it actually strengthens government control, and what you can do to protect your family’s educational autonomy.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Modern Education Problems
I need to tell you something that’s going to make you uncomfortable.
Right now, while you’re reading this, legislators in your state capitol are drafting bills that sound like freedom but function like chains. They’re calling it “School Choice.” They’re saying it will empower you as a parent. They’re promising to give you “your tax dollars back.”
But they don’t understand what they’re really doing.
The multimillion-dollar marketing campaign behind School Choice and woke education has convinced well-meaning conservatives that government funding equals freedom. After spending months researching Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education, and How We Can Win It Back with my co-author Alex Newman, I can no longer stay silent about what we discovered.
If we don’t wake up to what’s really happening, the homeschooling movement (the last true bastion of educational independence in America) will be dead within a generation.
The Trojan Horse of Modern Education Problems
Here’s what keeps me up at night: The pioneering homeschooling families who fought for educational freedom in the 1980s and 90s (who risked jail time, who faced CPS investigations, who sacrificed financial security) are now watching the second generation surrender that hard-won independence for government checks.
In Arizona, the supposed “gold standard” of School Choice, families are using Education Savings Account (ESA) funds to remodel their kitchens, buy coffee machines for “barista electives,” and take Disney vacations they’re calling “educational experiences.”[1]
But here’s the part that should concern every independent homeschooler: To access those funds, Arizona families must surrender their homeschool affidavit and sign a contract with the Arizona Department of Education.
Read that again. They are no longer legally homeschool students. They are ESA students. Government students.
As we document in Woke and Weaponized:
“School Choice repositions and strengthens government monopoly through the power of the purse; it does not break it.”
Protecting Homeschool Values Against Government Expansion
The pattern is clear: government funding always comes with strings attached. What starts as a voluntary program becomes mandatory. What begins with minimal oversight ends with complete control. This is the education culture war playing out in real time.
The Pattern We Refuse to See: Classical Education vs Woke Ideology
You know what happened in Sweden, right? In 1992, they passed “free school reform” (a voucher system that promised educational freedom). Conservatives celebrated. Families rejoiced.
By 2011, homeschooling was effectively outlawed. Private schools became government-controlled. Academic performance collapsed.
It took exactly 19 years.
“But that could never happen here,” you’re thinking. “This is America. We have constitutional protections.”
Friend, I wish you were right. But let me share something that should give us pause:
In Florida (deep red, conservative Florida), they passed a law in 2024 that prohibits colleges from charging more than what the state will pay for dual enrollment courses. What took Swedish socialists five years to implement, Florida Republicans did in one legislative session.
The regulatory ratchet always tightens. Always. The only variable is speed.
How Woke Ideology Affects Education Through Government Control
This is how woke education gains ground. Not through overt indoctrination at first, but through financial dependency that opens the door to ideological control. Once families accept government funding, they accept government authority over what and how their children learn.
Why This Matters to YOU Right Now: Preserving Educational Freedom
Maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t take government money for homeschooling. This doesn’t affect me.”
Think again.
When School Choice and woke education becomes universal, when everyone else is getting $7,000 to $10,000 per child from the state, three things happen:
First, the cost of everything in the educational marketplace inflates to capture those government dollars. Private school tuition jumps. Co-op fees increase. Curriculum vendors raise prices. You’re left paying dramatically more with your own money while your neighbors pay nothing.
Second, the truly independent options begin to disappear. Why would someone start a classical Christian school that charges tuition when government-funded schools down the street are “free”? The independent educational ecosystem that took forty years to build will collapse in less than a decade.
Third (and this is the most insidious part) you become the weird one. The radical. The family that’s “too extreme” to accept help. The community pressure to conform becomes overwhelming.
As we write in Woke and Weaponized:
“Homeschooling is the front line in the defense of liberty in America. When families decide to homeschool, they are declaring allegiance to God rather than the government; to God rather than the corporate ladder; to God rather than consumerism.”
Defending Classical Education and Traditional Education Values
The classical education foundation rests on independence from government control. When we accept funding, we compromise the very principles that make classical education distinct: the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness without state interference.
Purchase your copy
The Evidence They’re Not Showing You About Woke Ideology Education
Here’s what the School Choice advocates (influenced by sophisticated marketing campaigns funded by billionaire foundations) won’t emphasize:
- In Arkansas, data shows only 44% of ESA funds went to actual educational expenses. The rest? Gone.[2]
- In Arizona, families are hoarding $440 million in unused ESA funds (essentially using it as a government-funded college savings plan for families who can already afford private school).[3]
- In Florida, “private” schools that accept vouchers are already facing the same regulations as public schools.[4]
And the academic results? Despite spending three times what independent homeschoolers spend, government-funded “homeschoolers” are underperforming.
Because here’s the thing about dependency: it changes you. When the government becomes your provider, you become its subject. When you accept its money, you accept its authority.
Protecting Children From Ideology: The Hidden Cost
This is how cultural Marxism in education advances. Not through obvious propaganda, but through financial dependency that gradually erodes parental authority and introduces ideological frameworks under the guise of standards and accountability.
The Well-Intentioned Path to Control: Understanding the Education Culture War
The hardest part of writing Woke and Weaponized wasn’t exposing the Marxist roots of public education. It wasn’t documenting how John Dewey and George Counts deliberately imported Soviet educational models into America. It wasn’t even tracing how the Frankfurt School weaponized education to undermine Western civilization.
The hardest part was realizing that the final threat to educational independence in America will come from conservatives who genuinely believe they’re fighting for freedom.
Think about the irony: We’ve spent decades fighting the teachers’ unions, exposing Common Core, resisting progressive indoctrination. We’ve built classical schools, grown the homeschool movement, and created alternatives.
And now? We’re being persuaded to hand it all over (gift-wrapped) because someone promised us a check and told us it was freedom.
As Milton Friedman warned: “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”
How to Homeschool From Woke Culture: Maintaining Independence
The answer isn’t government funding with strings attached. The answer is building robust, independent alternatives that operate outside government control entirely. This is what a classical Christian worldview demands: allegiance to God’s authority, not the state’s.
What We’re Really Choosing: Classical Education Values vs Government Dependency
Let me be direct about what’s at stake. This isn’t ultimately about education policy. This is about authority. This is about allegiance. This is about whether we believe children belong to their parents under God, or to the state.
Every government program in history has followed the same trajectory:
- Start with the most sympathetic case (special needs students)
- Expand gradually to broader groups (low-income, military families)
- Eventually become universal
- Increase regulations incrementally
- Creates dependency that makes exit impossible
We’re currently between steps 3 and 4. The time to resist is NOW (while we still can).
From Woke and Weaponized:
“The faster we can achieve a truly independent education system, the more we mitigate the risks inherent in any government program, even the seemingly benign tax-credit schemes… Independence represents not merely an economic preference, but a moral obligation rooted in the biblical understanding of human dignity and parental responsibility.”
Christian Education Philosophy: Authority and Allegiance
At the heart of Christian education philosophy is the belief that parents, not the state, bear primary responsibility for their children’s formation. Government funding fundamentally reverses this authority structure, making the state the provider and parents the grateful recipients.
The Path Forward: Defending Classical Education and Traditional Values
Here’s the truth the establishment doesn’t want you to know: We don’t need their money.
For most of American history, families educated their children without government funding. Literacy rates were higher. Academic achievement was superior. Communities were stronger.
The homeschooling movement proved this could work in modern times. From 93,000 families in 1983 to over 5 million by 2025 (growing entirely through voluntary association and mutual support, without a penny of government funding).
Woke and Weaponized provides the roadmap:
- Protect and expand tax deductions for educational expenses (your own money)
- Support scholarship funds through churches and community organizations (voluntary giving)
- Reduce regulatory barriers to starting private schools (remove red tape, not add subsidies)
- Eliminate truancy laws that make education compulsory (true freedom)
- Build robust networks of truly independent schools and co-ops (community, not government)
But here’s what it requires: courage. The courage to say no to “free” money. The courage to sacrifice short-term convenience for long-term liberty. The courage to think generationally rather than financially.
Building a Classical Education Foundation Without Government Dependency
True classical education values flourish only in independence. When we build our own schools, co-ops, and educational communities without government funding, we preserve the freedom to teach truth, pursue wisdom, and form children according to Christian principles rather than state mandates.
The Question Only You Can Answer: Preserving Your Family’s Educational Freedom
So here’s where I need you to get uncomfortable with me.
What are you going to do?
Will you be the generation that surrenders the freedom your parents and grandparents fought for because the check was too tempting?
Or will you be the generation that says: “My children are not for sale. My independence is not negotiable. My allegiance is to God, not government.”
This isn’t a hypothetical future scenario. This is happening right now, in your state, probably in your community. School Choice bills are being filed as you read this. Advocates (funded by sophisticated PR campaigns) are calling it “the civil rights issue of our time.” Your neighbors are signing up.
And once enough people are dependent on the system, it will be politically impossible to dismantle.
The window is closing.
Why You Need Robert Bortins’ Book: Woke and Weaponized
Woke and Weaponized isn’t just another book about education problems. It’s the historical, philosophical, and practical guide to understanding what’s really at stake and how to protect your family.
You’ll discover:
- The documented Soviet covert influence operations that shaped American education (yes, really)
- How social-emotional learning (SEL) is the direct descendant of Marxist indoctrination techniques
- Why every School Choice program in history has led to government control
- The specific policies that will actually advance educational freedom
- How to build truly independent educational alternatives in your community
But more than information, this book will give you the moral clarity and courage to stand firm when everyone around you is surrendering.
Because ultimately, as we conclude in the epilogue:
“The choice between first principles and policy wins is not merely tactical but spiritual. It is the choice between the City of God and the City of Man, between the permanent things and the passing fashions of political expediency.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Woke and Weaponized about?
Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education, and How We Can Win It Back exposes how Marxist ideology systematically infiltrated American education and provides practical strategies for defending classical education and parental authority. The book traces historical influences from Soviet educational models to modern woke ideology in education, offering families a roadmap to true educational independence.
How does woke ideology affect education?
Woke ideology affects education by replacing the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness with identity politics, critical theory, and social-emotional learning that prioritizes group identity over individual character formation. This woke education approach undermines traditional education values, classical Christian worldview development, and parental authority by positioning the state as the primary shaper of children’s beliefs and values.
Why choose classical education today?
Classical education offers a proven alternative to woke education by grounding learning in timeless truths, rigorous academic standards, and a Christian education philosophy that honors parental authority. In today’s education culture war, classical education values provide children with the tools to think critically, discern truth from propaganda, and resist ideological manipulation while building a strong classical education foundation.
Who is Robert Bortins?
Robert Bortins is the CEO of Classical Conversations, a classical Christian homeschool organization serving over 45,000 families nationwide. As a homeschooling father, host of the Refining Rhetoric podcast, and co-author of Woke and Weaponized, he has dedicated his career to defending classical education and helping families achieve true educational independence outside government control.
How do I protect my homeschool from cultural influence?
Protect your homeschool by maintaining complete financial independence from government programs, building community with other families committed to protecting homeschool values, and grounding your curriculum in classical education values and a classical Christian worldview. Focus on preserving educational freedom by rejecting any funding that requires state oversight, accountability measures, or standardized testing that could introduce woke ideology into your home education.
The Time to Choose Is Now
Joshua once called the people of Israel to make a choice: “Choose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Today, we face the same choice. Will you serve the state that promises provision but demands allegiance? Or will you serve the God who calls you to independence, sacrifice, and faith?
Your children are watching. Your grandchildren’s freedom hangs in the balance. And the homeschooling movement (the last flame of educational liberty in America) needs you to choose wisely.
Get your copy of Woke and Weaponized today. Not tomorrow. Today.
Because by tomorrow, another state might pass a School Choice bill. Another family might sign away their independence. Another piece of educational freedom might be lost forever.
The battle for your children’s minds is already raging. The only question is whether you’ll fight for their freedom or surrender it for a government check.
Choose wisely. Choose today.
Learn more about homeschool versus public education with these resources:
- Is Homeschooling Better Than Public School?
- Homeschool vs. Public School
- Public School Exit: Helping Christian Families Find Educational Freedom (podcast)
[1] Harris, Craig. “Arizona ESA Funds Are Being Used for San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld Trips.” 12News, 1 Aug. 2025, www.12news.com/article/news/education/esa-education-tax-dollars-subsidize-san-diego-vacations-empowerment-scholarships-seaworld-san-diego-zoo. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
[2] Gelder, Austin. “Lawmakers Try to Tighten Rules After Most Homeschool Voucher Funds Went toward Non-academic Expenses.” Arkansas Times, 10 Apr. 2025, arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/04/10/lawmakers-try-to-tighten-rules-after-most-homeschool-voucher-funds-went-toward-non-academic-expenses. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
[3] Harris, Craig. “Families Hoard ESA Funds As Arizona Public Schools Face Low Funding, Records Show.” 12News, 8 Jul. 2025, www.12news.com/article/news/education/exclusive-12news-obtains-records-showing-440-million-stockpiled-in-unused-empowerment-scholarship-accounts-that-can-be-used-for-college-arizona. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
[4] Soule, Douglas. “Florida Senate Passes Overhaul of Private School Vouchers.” WGCU, 15 Jan. 2026, www.wgcu.org/government-politics/2026-01-15/florida-senate-passes-overhaul-private-school-vouchers. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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