
When reading this article ask yourself, who is advising President Trump on Education Reform?
School choice is often presented as a beacon of hope for families trapped in failing public schools. The rhetoric surrounding this movement paints a picture of empowerment—parents being able to send their children to better educational institutions, regardless of income level. However, what many fail to see is that government-funded school choice is not about freedom—it is about control. As the government begins funding private and homeschool options, it inevitably attaches strings to that funding, effectively dismantling true educational independence.
The Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Connection
One of the most insidious elements of government involvement in education is the push for social-emotional learning (SEL). While SEL is marketed as a way to teach empathy, resilience, and emotional intelligence, in reality, it serves as a mechanism for ideological indoctrination.
SEL programs introduce radical leftist ideologies into the classroom under the guise of “mental well-being.”
Schools use platforms like Panorama to collect data on students’ emotions and attitudes, tracking them throughout their educational careers.
This data-driven approach lays the foundation for an early social credit system, where a child’s emotional and ideological compliance is monitored and measured.
The Corporate and Globalist Agenda Behind School Choice
Many proponents of school choice fail to acknowledge who is really funding these initiatives. Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), Jeff Yass (Tick Tock), The Devos Family Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, the Koch network, and other billionaire-backed organizations are the driving forces behind school choice legislation. These groups also heavily fund leftist social agendas, including LGBTQ curriculum development and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) compliance.
Why would organizations that fund progressive social policies also fund school choice? The answer is control. These groups understand that by standardizing and centralizing education, they can shape future generations to align with globalist ideals.
The UNESCO Connection: A Globalist Takeover of Education
A key player in the push for government-controlled school choice is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). While UNESCO claims to promote "inclusive and equitable quality education for all," its real agenda is far more concerning.
UNESCO has explicitly stated in its Global Education Monitoring Report that school choice should be used to create a single, unified global education system.
Through its Inclusive Policy Lab, UNESCO pushes for centralized control over curricula, teacher training, and educational outcomes worldwide.
In its Education 2030 agenda, UNESCO promotes competency-based education that aligns with social-emotional learning and global citizenship frameworks.
UNESCO’s ultimate goal is to integrate all schools—public, private, and even homeschools—into a singular global education system where national sovereignty over curriculum and policy is eroded. Through partnerships with corporations, NGOs, and progressive think tanks, UNESCO works to reshape education systems to fit a collectivist worldview.
Notably, school choice advocates like Corey DeAngelis are listed as "experts" for UNESCO's Inclusive Policy Lab. Although once he was exposed it was removed from the website. This raises serious questions about why a self-proclaimed school choice champion is aligning with an organization dedicated to global governance of education. The more government funding flows into school choice, the easier it becomes for UNESCO’s agenda to infiltrate private and home education models, reducing them to mere extensions of state-controlled schooling.
UNESCO’s Demand-Side Finance Programs: A Path to Greater Government Control
One mechanism governments use to increase their influence over education is UNESCO Demand-Side Finance Programs, which include vouchers and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). These programs claim to increase school choice by providing families with direct funding to enroll their children in private schools or purchase homeschooling resources. However, the reality is far more complex:
Government-controlled funding creates regulatory compliance mandates, forcing private schools and homeschool programs to adhere to state-imposed curricula and testing standards.
Once a school accepts government money, it becomes vulnerable to shifting regulations, which could eventually force ideological conformity in all schools receiving such funding.
Vouchers and ESAs create dependence on public funds, leading to the gradual erosion of independent, community-based funding models for private and homeschooling education.
Historical evidence shows that government-subsidized programs inevitably lead to increased costs—similar to what has happened in higher education and healthcare—making private education less affordable in the long run.
By implementing Demand-Side Finance Programs, governments do not truly empower parents; rather, they use financial incentives as a tool to increase regulatory control over independent education providers.
The Role of Governor Abbott and the Texas Education Agency (TEA)
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has taken steps to align the state’s education system with Demand-Side Finance Programs. One of his most significant moves was appointing Mike Morath as the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner. Morath has been actively restructuring the TEA to support voucher-based funding models, shifting Texas toward a more centralized education finance system.
Under Morath’s leadership, the TEA has increased oversight and data collection mechanisms to align with federal and global education standards.
The TEA has also expanded digital learning and competency-based assessments, which mirror UNESCO’s education model.
This restructuring is designed to transition Texas toward a fully demand-side financed education system, where government-controlled school choice will ultimately lead to regulatory capture of private and homeschool education.
These changes raise serious concerns about whether Texas is becoming a testing ground for a nationalized education finance model that could later be adopted across the U.S.
The Long-Term Consequences: A Loss of Educational Freedom
Parents may believe that school choice expands their options, but history has shown that government intervention ultimately leads to standardization and loss of autonomy:
In other countries where school choice was implemented, private schools were gradually absorbed into the public system, losing their independence.
Corporate giants like Amazon and Microsoft enter the education sector, buying up micro-schools and turning them into bureaucratic, state-controlled institutions.
With UNESCO’s increasing influence, national education policies will no longer reflect local values and parental rights, but rather globalist priorities.
When the government funds education, it gets to dictate curriculum, policies, and accreditation. Private schools and homeschools accepting vouchers or ESAs will eventually be required to comply with federal regulations—including critical race theory, gender ideology, and data-driven student monitoring.
The Urgent Need to Resist Government-Funded School Choice
The push for school choice is not about educational freedom—it is a Trojan Horse for increased government oversight, corporate takeovers, and the erosion of family-led education. We must take a stand before it is too late:
Reject government-funded school choice programs and advocate for privately funded scholarship initiatives.
Educate others about the real risks involved—this is not about rescuing children from failing public schools but about transitioning all education under state control.
Support true educational independence by investing in private, donor-supported schools and homeschooling cooperatives that do not rely on government money.
Conclusion: A Call to Action
Government-regulated school choice is a trap. While it promises freedom, opportunity, and flexibility, what it ultimately delivers is bureaucracy, ideological conformity, and a loss of educational sovereignty. If parents truly want choice, they must resist the lure of government subsidies and instead fight for a system where families, not politicians or corporations, control the education of their children.
The globalist agenda is clear—school choice is the mechanism by which they will standardize and regulate all education. Our only defense is to opt out of the system entirely and build independent, self-sustaining educational communities.
Parents, educators, and policymakers must unite to stop government-controlled school choice before it is too late.
I want to highly encourage all to watch this playlist of interviews Robert Bortins’ Refining Rhetoric podcast exposing the Dark Side of School Choice.