The Heritage Foundation, alongside a coalition of leading education scholars, policy experts, and public officials, unveiled The Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education today at the Conservative Vision of Education Conference in Phoenix.
In this time of moral and political crises, when too many schools have lost their way, it is the responsibility of America’s parents, educators, and policymakers to recommit ourselves to the central purposes of education.
Education is the cornerstone of individual opportunity, family flourishing, and national prosperity. Every child should have access to a high-quality, content-rich education that fosters the pursuit of the good, the true, and the beautiful, so that they may achieve their full, God-given potential. America’s schools must work alongside parents to prepare children for the responsibilities of adulthood, including their familial and civic responsibilities, by cultivating excellence in mind and heart.
America’s system of self-government is predicated upon an informed and virtuous citizenry. To protect their rights and freedoms, and to fulfill their civic duties, citizens must first know what they are and what America stands for. In the words of Thomas Jefferson: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Information without moral formation is insufficient. Parents, schools, and religious and civic institutions must cultivate in children the personal and civic virtues necessary for selfgovernment. “Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private [virtue],” observed John Adams, “and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.”
Schools should equip students with the knowledge, character, and skills necessary to succeed in life as individuals and to fulfill their obligations as members of their families, local communities, and country. In order to empower families, advance educational excellence, transmit our culture, and uphold the foundational principles of our constitutional republic, we believe the following principles should guide American families, schools, and policymakers:
Parental Choice and Responsibility
Parents are the primary educators of their children. Parents should have the freedom to choose the learning environments that align with their values and best meet their children’s individual learning needs, with public education funding following the child. ...
Read entire declaration at
Heritage.org
