Do Not Defund Public Education — Change It: Parent Power, Placement, & Policy Produce Progress

The revolution isn't coming—it's here. And it's happening in school board meetings, parent advocacy groups, and community organizing spaces where everyday people are saying "enough" to educational systems that treat our children like products on an assembly line.

We refuse to accept the false choice between defunding public education and maintaining broken systems that fail our communities. There's a third path—one that centers parent power, expands placement options, and drives policy reform from the ground up.

This is the path forward. This is how we build liberation-focused learning environments that honor our children's brilliance while dismantling the structures designed to contain them.

The False Choice That's Dividing Us

Right now, political forces want us to choose sides in a manufactured debate—either gut public education entirely or accept the status quo that's been failing Black and brown children for generations. But in Lincoln Heights, Ohio—America's first Black city—we know something about creating alternatives when existing systems don't serve us.

The communities that built Lincoln Heights from nothing understand that when institutions fail you, you don't just tear them down without a plan. You transform them. You take power. You build something better.

We reject the politics of educational scarcity.

Research shows that efforts to completely dismantle education infrastructure create chaos and leave the most vulnerable students behind. But we also reject the lie that maintaining current funding structures without fundamental reform will magically fix decades of educational malpractice.

The real work—the revolutionary work—happens when parents, communities, and young people seize decision-making power and reshape education from the inside out.

Parent Power: The Engine of Educational Revolution

Here's what the data tells us—and what Black parents in Lincoln Heights have always known: when parents stay involved in their children's education, everything changes.

Students with engaged parents demonstrate:

• Better attendance and behavior

• Higher academic achievement

• Stronger social skills

• Improved preparation for college and career

• Lower suspension rates

• Higher graduation rates

But here's the revolutionary part: 52% of parents now prefer to direct and curate their child's education rather than surrender that power to bureaucratic systems. And 79% believe learning should happen everywhere, not just in traditional classrooms.

This isn't just a preference. This is parent power awakening.

We are witnessing the same energy that built Lincoln Heights challenging educational institutions across the country. Parents are organizing. They're demanding transparency. They're running for school boards and winning. They're creating alternatives when existing options fail their children.

This is what educational liberation looks like in practice.

Placement Revolution: Expanding Learning Beyond Institutional Walls

The traditional model told us there was one way to educate children: sort them by age, place them in rows, and deliver standardized content regardless of how they learn best.

We are done with that model.

Revolutionary placement means parents have the power, information, and resources to choose educational environments that match their values and their child's learning needs. This includes:

• Public schools that center community knowledge

• Charter schools founded on liberation principles

• Faith-based institutions that honor spiritual development

• Home-school collaboratives that blend family and academic learning

• Community-based programs that treat the neighborhood as classroom

The goal isn't to abandon public education—it's to force public education to compete for our children by offering genuinely transformative experiences instead of compliance training.

When parents in Lincoln Heights and communities like it have real choices, schools have to become responsive to family needs instead of bureaucratic mandates.

Policy Reform: From the Ground Up

Real policy change doesn't start in state capitals or federal offices. It starts in communities where parents refuse to accept educational mediocrity for their children.

Parent advocacy drives systemic change.

The research is clear: organized parents have successfully pushed through landmark education laws, from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to local policies reducing disparities and increasing inclusion. When parents organize, lobby, and demand accountability, legislators listen.

But here's what makes this revolutionary: we're not just asking for seats at tables that were never designed for us. We're building our own tables. We're creating Local Control and Accountability Plans that center parent input. We're establishing community partnerships that bypass traditional gatekeepers.

In Lincoln Heights, this looks like:

• Parents running successful campaigns for school board positions

• Community organizations creating after-school programs that teach critical thinking alongside academic skills

• Intergenerational learning spaces where elders share knowledge that textbooks ignore

• Student-led initiatives that address real community needs

This is what happens when parent power meets policy reform—transformation from the ground up.

Beyond False Choices: The Liberation Framework

The choice isn't between defunding education and maintaining broken systems. The choice is between accepting educational oppression and building educational liberation.

Educational liberation requires:

1. Sustained funding that follows families, not institutions

2. Parent power in decision-making at every level

3. Community accountability instead of bureaucratic compliance

4. Learning environments that honor cultural knowledge

5. Student leadership development that builds critical thinking skills

6. Collaborative partnerships between families, educators, and community organizations

This framework acknowledges that children need resources, support, and protection while ensuring that parents and communities maintain power over educational decisions.

The Lincoln Heights Model: Building While We Fight

In America's first Black city, residents have always understood that you can't wait for perfect conditions to create the change your community needs. You build while you fight. You create alternatives while you challenge existing systems.

This is the energy we need in education.

We maintain funding that protects vulnerable students while we organize parents to take power. We create new placement options while we transform existing schools. We implement policy reforms while we build community-controlled alternatives.

The data shows this works—when families and schools collaborate as true partners, focused on improved learning and development outcomes, everyone wins. Higher achievement. Better preparation for college and career. Stronger communities.

The Revolutionary Call

The revolution in education isn't about choosing between funding and defunding. It's about choosing between powerlessness and power.

We choose power.

We choose parent power that shapes educational decisions. We choose placement options that honor how our children actually learn. We choose policy reforms driven by community organizing instead of corporate interests.

We choose to build liberation-focused learning environments that treat our children like the brilliant future leaders they are, not problems to be managed or products to be produced.

The choice is ours. The power is ours. The future is ours to build.

What will you choose?

---

Ready to join the educational revolution? Connect with EDUC8theWORLD at https://www.educ8theworld.org and help us build liberation-focused learning environments that transform students into the leaders our communities need.