Is regionalization working? Not to my knowledge.

National School Choice Week took place from Jan. 26-Feb. 1, and freedom activists around the country participated in events highlighting the need for parental control of education. The feeling was when government usurps control of education from parents, education easily can become indoctrination. In my opinion, it’s already here.

The failure of centralized education is shown by the correlation between U.S. students’ declining test scores and the growth of federal control over U.S. schools. Education reform that furthers or expands the Department of Education may prove folly. The only effective education reform is to restore parental control over education.

The old saying is true, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” Federal funding of education, whether by federal grant or taxpayer-funded vouchers, means schools will spend more time trying to please federal/state bureaucrats than the parents of students.

One educational model that works well, especially in Maine, is home schooling. It is ironic that the government would try to force homeschoolers to conform to its regulations, such as Common Core, because 45 states went along with them. So far, the results haven’t been tabulated. How long do we wait?

Everyone who wishes to see America and Maine remain a free and prosperous society like we had in the 1950s should get interested in parental control of our educational system and strive to restore home rule.

Frank SlasonSomerville