The Obama administration’s refusal to embrace parental choice in education is difficult to understand given its health care stance and the overall public policy direction that Democrats have advocated and embraced for decades. The most recent example is the controversy over the access to contraception under Obamacare.

Initially, the administration asserted that a woman’s and family’s right to choose to use contraception trumped whatever objections religious affiliated employers had to its use. Churches themselves were exempt, but not hospitals they operate. These religious employers would have had to honor the family’s right to choose contraceptives and at zero cost for all their employees. The White House backed off somewhat from the directive in the face of an uproar, but instead ordered that insurance companies have to offer and pay for such coverage separately when the religiously affiliated organization opts not to offer it.

This recognition of the family’s rights on such a personal and potentially life changing decision as contraception oddly does not carry over to education, which in the 21st century is more life changing than ever. Education once was third behind a good work ethic and a strong back for many middle class jobs. Today, education is a must for a middle-class standard of living. (more…)

Two more signs in the past week that the world is changing in ways that make sense to us:

* In Orlando, Florida on Friday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a new federal program that aims to spark more public-private partnerships to support low-performing schools. The quote here that caught our eye: "Every child deserves an education that will enable them to succeed in a global economy," Joshua DuBois, special assistant to President Obama and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, said in a press release. "Faith and community groups are critical partners in this all-hands on deck moment."

* In Austin, Texas on Monday, the local district and a handful of charter schools announce a partnership that will allow them to share resources on everything from a teacher training center to discounted insurance premiums. The money quote here: "At the end of the day, I really want to see more kids graduate," Austin Superintendent Meria Carstaphen told the Austin American-Statesman. "Maybe I should be more territorial, but I'm simply not. They can graduate from us. They can graduate from partners in this collaborative."

Both initiatives are refreshing. Both show, again, that the walls between public and private are crumbling and, in the end, kids will be better off. Now, we could quibble here and wonder why the Obama administration's professed support for an all-hands-on-deck world view doesn't extend to private school vouchers and tax-credit scholarships, but that's a post for another day. Until that view is carried to its logical extension, we can at least celebrate the disintegration of a couple more bricks.