Whose children are they?

Thomas Bowden's article, "Your Child is Not State Property," has been profiled on several blogs, so I first want to say I didn't find it myself. However, I think it's a great short article about parental rights. It focuses a bit on homeschooling, but also should be of great importance to those who choose private education. Here's my favorite quote:

Of course, there are certain situations in which government must step in to protect the rights of a child, as in cases of physical abuse or neglect. But no such concern for individual rights can account for California's arrogant assertion of state control over the minds of all school-age children residing within its borders.

Education, like nutrition, should be recognized as the exclusive domain of a child's parents, within legal limits objectively defining child abuse and neglect. Parents who starve their children may properly be ordered to fulfill their parental obligations, on pain of losing legal custody. But the fact that some parents may serve better food than others does not permit government to seize control of nutrition, outlaw home-cooked meals, and order all children to report for daily force-feeding at government-licensed cafeterias.

Good analogy, huh? However, why these things are even in question is a bit mind boggling. It must be recognized that an absolute component of the liberty of a free society involves a parent's right to determine the quality and moral components of their child's training.

(And seeing that private schools operate at approximately half the cost of public schools and produce better results, on average, there could certainly be a positive economic impact to allowing market-driven parental choice.)