Tipsheet

Vox Continues the Left's War on Private Schools With Heaping Helping of Toxic Empathy

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  March 30, 2026 4:00 PM

Democrats have long waged war against private schools, but only for the average American. People like former North Carolina Governor and current Senate candidate Roy Cooper had no problem sending his daughter to an expensive private school while he barred other children from having the same opportunities. In Wisconsin, Democrats are seeking to kill school choice by having the state's Leftist courts declare it unconstitutional.

But sometimes, Democrats try to appeal to toxic empathy to guilt trip parents into keeping their kids out of public school, in the name of the common good. Like Vox is doing here.

This is part of an advice column, so we'll start with the letter from a concerned parent:

I’m trying to decide whether to keep my elementary school-age kid in the neighborhood public school or move him to a more exclusive private school. Our public school is okay, but my partner and I feel that he might be more challenged and ultimately better off moving to a private school.

But I’m very aware of the increasing flow of students around the US out of public schools, and the effect that is having on the children who remain there. For one thing, since public schools get more funding the more students they have, every family that leaves effectively takes money with them. I worry that by taking my child out of public school, I’m contributing to that problem, but I also don’t want my child to bear the personal burden of my politics.

This is, on its face, nuts. Parents have an obligation to do what's best for their children. If public schools want to keep kids, they need to provide better services. But in many places, they don't. Literacy rates are in the sewer and math scores aren't much better. In places like Chicago, the teachers are more concerned with protesting for Venezuela's dictators and against the war in Iran. Parents should not keep their kids there for the sake of other children.

Here's part of Vox's answer to that parent (emphasis added):

In addition to potentially providing a less stressful environment, public schools can confer other important advantages. For one thing, your local public school can help you and your child be part of the neighborhood community, which is incredibly valuable for social development and countering loneliness. And being in an environment that’s more diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, or class can teach your kid to empathize and get along with a wide variety of people.

As the American philosopher John Dewey pointed out, these are essential skills and capacities for a flourishing adult life and for a flourishing democracy. Democracy is a way of being in community with people unlike yourself; that’s a mode of life that has to be cultivated, and public schools are great grounds for learning to navigate a shared world.

Plus, public education is free! (Well, “free” — you’ve already paid for it with your taxes, whether or not your kid uses it.) So you could save all the money you’d spend on private school and instead use it on enriching opportunities to expand your child’s horizons. Personally, I’d take my kid to Italy and teach them about Ancient Roman gladiators and Renaissance art and the many flavors of gelato! Or you could collaborate with your child to decide where to donate some of that money to fund education resources for kids elsewhere.

On balance, since the evidence suggests that a child at a decent public school, with involved parents, probably won’t gain meaningful advantages from switching to an exclusive private school — and may face real psychological risks in a hyper-competitive environment — I don’t see a compelling reason to make the move. If you’ve got the resources to even consider private school, then your home life will probably play the biggest role in your kid’s academic trajectory, regardless of which building he sits in during the day. The most important educational institution in your kid’s life is you.

See that? Keep your kid down so they're not better than other kids. The soft bigotry of low expectations and Leftist collectivism strikes again. This is toxic empathy. They're guilting parents into not making the best choice for their children for the sake of the collective.

Did public schools really help with social development when they were shut for years thanks to COVID? How does keeping kids in a classroom with their own age group encourage social skills and diversity? Private schools do that, too, and often for less money with better outcomes.

That's precisely the attitude parents need to have.

In most cases, public schools are not the best choice.

That's the priority of all parents.

That some don't prioritize their kids isn't our problem.

They always want to teach us how to think and what to think. They can't stand diversity of thought and opinion.

Leftists hate that, though. They believe our children belong to the state, which just so happens to be run by them.

And remember: the same people telling you this will tell you it's none of your business when parents mutilate and sterilize kids in the name of "gender-affirming care." That, suddenly, becomes a choice between parents, kids, and their doctor. The difference, of course, is that such "care" does tremendous harm while private schooling does not.