While the idea of "saving" the public schools and using them as a mission field into which we send our little Bible warriors is appealing, it doesn't reflect the reality of the situation. Decades of study and polls by such trustworthy sources as the Nehemiah Institute and George Barna reveal the sad reality: the vast majority of converts are the kids from Christian homes who are being won over to secular humanism (read: atheism).

We need to realize that we can't "win back" the schools for God, because they were never designed to glorify Him. The originators of the public school concept knew it would take a few generations, but the ultimate goal was humanism, and the gradual steps of eliminating Christian cultural influence and replacing it with a godless philosophy were intentional and deliberate. Expecting our young, malleable children to function as salt and light in a hostile environment is no different than sending untried recruits to the front lines of battle.

My feelings are that deserting public schools may save our children but what about those who are left and those who cannot for whatever reason remove their children from public schools? And what does that mean for the future of America?

Franklin Graham (Sept 2004, Decision Magazine):

"For the sake of our commission to 'go and make disciples' I hope that Christians will not surrender the public schools. Instead let us take them back. Let's consider them a mission field."

There has to be a way, using God's wisdom not ours, to institute the change our children need. My entire thesis on this is contained in my new book, The Stakes Are High: God's Wisdom for Our Public Schools. I'm praying that God makes a move in the church to stand up and make these changes a reality!

While I completely support homeschooling as well as Christian schools, and the social and spiritual advantage they give our children, I am concerned about some of the reasons parents use for choosing these methods. I have lots of friends who homeschool and while they do a good job, some also emphasize avoiding the "cookie cutter" approach. What I have seen from this is kids who are unable to get into good colleges because they were not made to tackle the really tough math and science curriculums because those did not foster their "interests." Other homeschooling parents that foster interests while insisting on TOUGH academics have better results, in my opinion. My second point relates to Christian Schools. My daughter went to Pensacola Christain (origin of the ABEKA cirriculum) for 1 year and though she could already read their final reading book on day one (math as well), the school made it clear that only their set cirriculum would be used and no enrichment would be offered.