What they don’t want parents to know

Sharon Sedlar | January 8, 2026

Power.  Control.  Money.

That’s what fuels much of the debate.  What has crafted the messaging and has made many parents feel powerless.

They have much of the:

• power to dictate where and how your child should be educated.
• control of your child’s education, your family; over your lives and your child’s future.
• money sent to the agency, not the child or the parents.

It’s like getting a menu at a restaurant – it’s a pre-defined and limited list.  “This is what we offer.  Choose from it.  This is the way it is.”  But it shouldn’t be.

We hear from many parents who just want to “get through.” Their children are struggling – perhaps due to medical or academic needs. Or safety. (You needn’t look far to know of the many stories of threats and violence in some areas and schools.) So many families are literally trapped in a school area based on how much money the family earns – unless they have the means to pay to get out of it, or an option happens to exist in their area.

Districts aren’t required to record board meetings.  Many board meeting notes are woefully insufficient. Parents are purposely blocked out.

And those in pursuit of the power, control and money think they know what’s best; that parents are not experts on their own children.  That permission must be sought.  Oversight is necessary.  Parents are not to be trusted, but the establishment and bureaucracy is.

They don’t want parents to know that it doesn’t have to be this way; that we can fight for the ability of kids to attend any district school that suits them.  That a child with special needs can attend a speciality school without having to languish for years.  That parents don’t have to jump through hoop after hoop just to get what their child is legally entitled to under federal and state law.  That there are options and solutions that are available now, and could be in the future, if they would just truly put kids first and trust parents.

And that’s why we exist.  We want parents to know.  We want them to be able to make decisions in the best interests of their child; regardless of where they live or how much money their family makes. 

Every child.  Every family.  It should truly be up to them.

Power.  Control.  Money.  It belongs to parents.