School Choice and the Hidden Agenda Behind 21st Century Education Reform
Do you know what the Political Purpose Behind Government Regulated School Choice and Virtual Learning is?
Think it is just the Republicans pushing the Education Reform agenda? Think again. The true political purpose behind College and Career Readiness, Competency-Based Learning, Personalized Learning, 21st Century Learning, Common Core, Virtual Learning and government regulated School Choice is not what the public has been told. These reforms are not about choice, academic excellence, or student success.
Instead, they represent a “revolution through education”—a fundamental shift in power and organizational structures, where local control is stripped away and replaced by a centrally coordinated, globally connected education system.
This nationalized education model is being built through School Choice legislation and policies—a fact hidden from public view but clearly outlined in legislative frameworks across multiple states. If School Choice were truly about empowering parents, then why do these bills and policies look almost identical across different states?
Why Do School Choice Bills Look the Same Across Multiple States?
✔ The same language and control mechanisms appear in School Choice legislation across the country.
✔ The strategy for implementing School Choice aligns closely across state lines.
✔ This is happening because the agenda to nationalize education is coordinated at a much higher level—beyond state legislatures.
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) plays a key role in shaping School Choice policy.
Who is Really Driving School Choice?
For example, Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Pre-K program is not a Texas-born initiative—it came from the Education Commission of the States (ECS), which has direct ties to the George Soros-funded Center for American Progress and George W Bush’s Aspen Institute.
The resources are co-branded by The George W. Bush Institute, Center for American Progress, Education Commission of the States, the Council of Chief State School Officers, The Council of State Governments, ExcelinEd, Education Strategy Group, Education Reform Now, Teach Plus, and RISE Colorado.
✔ Royce West, was key member of the Texas Senate Education Committee, is involved with ECS.
✔ Jimmie Don Aycock and Kel Seliger, two other major figures in Texas education policy, are also tied to ECS.
Key Figures in Texas Pushing the ECS Agenda
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) is a national organization that helps guide education policy across all 50 states, ensuring that legislation aligns with federal and global objectives. The current ECS representatives from Texas include:
✔ Greg Abbott, Governor, State of Texas
✔ Tabatha C. Vasquez, Senior Advisor for Budget and Policy, State of Texas (Governor’s Proxy)
✔ Keven M. Ellis, Member, Texas State Board of Education
✔ Brad Buckley, Chair, Public Education Committee, Texas House of Representatives
✔ Brandon Creighton, Chair, Committee on Education K-16, Texas Senate
✔ Morgan Meyer, State Representative, Texas House of Representatives
✔ Mike Morath, Commissioner of Education, Texas Education Agency
✔ Wynn Rosser, Commissioner, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
When unelected commissions and think tanks are influencing legislation across multiple states, it raises an urgent question:
✔ Who really controls education policy—local elected officials, or a network of national and global organizations with hidden financial interests?
School Choice is NOT About Parental Rights—It’s About Government Control
Despite the carefully crafted messaging, all School Choice legislation at both the state and federal levels ultimately hands control over parental rights to the government.
This is what some call “Progressive Federalism”—a strategy where the illusion of local control is maintained, but in reality, all power and authority are centralized at the federal and global levels.
As my friend Michael Bohr correctly states:
“Parents, who are the first and forever educators of their children, are the only people who hold the right to determine ‘the best interests of their child.’
Everyone else has an agenda that puts their best interests over those of the child, and they have done so by taking control of our government.
Their hope is that we continue to fight the false battles they lay before us and forget that we, the parents, are the sole authority in determining the education and upbringing of our children.”
The Blueprint for Nationalizing Education Through School Choice
This push to nationalize education is not new—the vision has been in place for decades.
✔ Ted Sizer’s 2004 book, The New American High School, laid out the vision for education reform.
✔ Earlier books from the 1970s also detailed the plan to centralize education under federal control.
Key Figures Behind the Push for School Choice in Texas
One of the leading voices in Texas pushing for School Choice is Kent Grusendorf, a former Texas State Representative and Chair of the House Education Committee and current Senior Fellow focusing on Education Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF)
✔ Grusendorf led efforts to digitize curriculum and remove textbooks in Texas.
✔ Technology lobbyists heavily influenced his policies and had direct access to his office.
✔ Donna Garner testified against Grusendorf’s push for digital curriculum on multiple occasions.
Grusendorf was instrumental in passing SB 6, which opened the floodgates for Common Core instructional materials in Texas.
✔ He was also a key figure in pushing the Visioning/Transformational TASA/TASB plan.
✔ Now, he is leading the charge on School Choice.
His involvement raises an important question: If School Choice is truly about empowering parents, why are the same people who brought Common Core into Texas now leading the School Choice movement?
The Hidden Dangers in School Choice Legislation
To understand why School Choice is a Trojan horse for centralized control, you have to read the actual legislation being proposed in Washington and Austin.
What’s Hidden in School Choice Bills?
✔ Much like the individual healthcare mandate under Obamacare, the latest versions of ESEA/NCLB reauthorization now known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) include an individual mandate on the child—where funding follows the child, binding them to federal regulations.
✔ The Obama administration implemented three major policy changes, without legislative approval, that transformed American education:
1️⃣ Common Core Copyright – Established a national curriculum and testing system that functions like the Obamacare individual mandate.
2️⃣ FERPA Data Unlock – Removed protections on student data, allowing personally identifiable information (PII) to be shared with third-party vendors, researchers, and corporations.
3️⃣ No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Flexibility Waivers – Required teachers to be retrained under Common Core, ensuring all public school students were funded under Title I, regardless of income status.
✔ These policies created a framework where:
Charter schools replace public schools.
Every child is taught the same federally controlled standards.
All testing is aligned to these standards.
All curriculum and software must comply with government regulations.
All data is collected, stored, and analyzed for compliance.
Conclusion: The Fight for True Parental Control
Parents must reject the deception behind School Choice.
✔ Demand transparency in education policy.
✔ Reject federally controlled education funding disguised as “choice.”
✔ Hold politicians accountable for selling out parental rights to corporations and think tanks.
This is not about choice—it is about control. And if we don’t fight back, we will lose it.
People are shocked when I tell them the federal money follows the child if parents accept vouchers. School choice sounds so liberating, right? They should call it "school dictate." Thank you for this great article!
This is quite the elaborate conspiracy theory and you list a bunch of names but at least one of them, Royce West, opposes SB2. I also don't believe that all the school choice bills "look almost identical across different states". This is easy to claim but much harder to disprove but, just comparing Utah's "Utah Fits All Scholarship Program" (2023 HB 215) with Texas' SB2 I see major differences like having to submit an annual portfolio of student achievement instead of the annual norm-refereneced assessment. Did I happen to get lucky by looking at Utah? Which state has passed a school choice bill that looks "almost identical" to SB2?
Fortunately, we can all read SB2 and see that your claim that it "hands control over parental rights to the government" is in direct conflict with the section of SB2 that expressly protects the autonomy of the voluntary participants, providers, and vendors. The "strings" in SB2 used to track success and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse are SUPER reasonable including an annual standardized test and a background check for (non-parent) providers directly engaging with children. Oh, and you can't try to re-sell materials purchased through ESA to make a profit or funnel money to a relative as your kid's co-op or tutor. Of course, those who don't like those "strings" don't have to apply for an ESA.
I can see you've put a lot of time and energy into this conspiracy by listing various loose associations and names of people who actually oppose SB2....but it just doesn't generate the fear or concern you intend because I've actually read the bill and, like Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell, I believe breaking the public school monopoly and giving more control / choice to parents is a major step in the right direction.