“The child is not the mere creature of the State.” With those words, issued a century ago, a unanimous Supreme Court recognized that “the fundamental liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose” prevents the government from attempts to “standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only.” Parental rights include the right to choose private education.
Few cases have more profoundly shaped the intersection of education, parental rights, and religious freedom than Pierce v. Society of Sisters. Deciding amid a wave of nativist sentiment and efforts to homogenize American culture through compulsory public education, the Court struck down a Ku Klux Klan–backed Oregon law mandating public school attendance for all children. In doing so, it affirmed the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children—a principle that has since become a cornerstone of constitutional law.
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