Kevin Novak, an attorney who leads the group Deconstructing the Coliseum, tells American Family News his organization is one of many that have joined together to form the Christian Education Initiative. Providence Foundation, Salt and Light Council, Exodus Mandate, and Nehemiah Institute are among the other groups that formed Christian Education Initiative.
"We're in a phase of trying to help people who are realizing that they need to get out of the civil government school system,” Novak says, “and they need to begin growing their lives around private, Christian education."
A theme running through the supporters is an exit from public schools that is better described as a mad dash for the doors. Novak and his group, for example, offer a biblical and legal defense for home education and for abandoning the public education model.
Homeschooling exploded thanks to China virus
CEI and its stated mission have enjoyed a boost, ironically enough, from the COVID-19 pandemic. When parents were forced almost overnight to keep their children at home, many moms and dads began researching home-based education especially when their children were struggling with “remote learning” on a laptop.
And a lot of parents apparently took the initiative. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of U.S. households that are now homeschooling doubled to 11.1% over the 2020 school year. That means approximately one kitchen table out of ten in the U.S. is being used for home-based education for approximately five million students.
Dr. Brian Ray, who leads the National Home Education Research Institute, recently told CBN News that many parents are attempting to shield their innocent children from explicit LGBT propaganda, for example, related to the transgender craze over choosing a gender and using personal pronouns.
“Parents are realizing,” Ray told CBN, “what you let flow over your child’s heart and mind six hours per day absolutely has an effect.”
More recently, the race-based themes associated with Critical Race Theory have exposed not just the classroom propaganda but the contempt for parents who disapprove of white children being told they are racist oppressors and their black classmates being told they are victims of a racist society.
Back on the CEI website, parents who are determined to begin a home-based education will find a long list of public school alternatives to replace the public school model.
For parents ready to investigate and compare curriculums, CEI maintains a list that can be found here.
According to Novak, one mission of CEI is to help churches help parents in their congregation who want to pull their children from a public school classroom but are concerned they can’t afford to do so. That student scholarship information, including a financial aid application, can be found here.
