Does He Who Pays the Piper Call the Tune in Education?

Education is a very important part of our society, and is one of the key factors in building and shaping the future generation of individuals. Today in American society there are more options for education than ever, thanks to the growth of the internet, and the rising movement known as homeschooling. Even though the concept of homeschooling is expanding like never before, the majority of parents still enroll their children into brick and mortar public schools. These public schools are administered by the state, and funded by the people, which makes one assume that the people are in charge of dictating the form of education these schools are teaching to the students. Does he who pays the piper call the tune in education?

Dissecting the sentence above into more simple terms: “he,” refers to the people, the “piper,” refers to the state, and “tune,” refers to the form of education being taught. Which in turn means that the sentence is asking: “does the people, who fund the state, in charge of the form of education being taught.”

The answer to the question above is mostly no. People who pay the state in regards to state run education do not have very much say over the form of education being taught in the public schools. The state is the entity that is ultimately in charge of the form of education being taught in the schools, regardless of the fact that the people fund the schools. People do have the ability to complain, go to boards, the local government, etc to help influence change in the school system, but that is limited, and ultimately not very effective in bringing about long-lasting change in the system.

Homeschooling is greatly expanding today in America, with more parents concluding that homeschooling is the best option for their childrens’ education journey. A key factor in why many parents have turned to homeschooling is because parents have little say on what form of education is being taught in the public schools. Ultimately regardless of the truth that these parents fund the public school system itself. He who pays the piper does not call the tune in education.