Christianity Today August 3, 2026 6 min signal 2026-08-03

Your kids don't need the 'perfect school.' They need a Savior.

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Christianity Today

August 3, 2026

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Sneksy / Getty / Edits by CT

Every August, the same question nags me: Am I making the right choice for my kids’ education? In ten years of motherhood, I’ve read numerous books about child development, family discipleship, and education. (Ever an eager beaver, I began this reading during my first pregnancy.) I’ve talked with proponents of homeschooling, private Christian schools, and public education.

Discerning an approach to education is complicated for Christian parents caught in the crosshairs of warring theological values: Since formation begins at home, we’re encouraged to educate children at home—especially considering what they might be exposed to in a public school. Then again, excellence in education is important, so perhaps a private, classical school is the superior route. But also, shouldn’t Christians prioritize engagement in their local communities and pursue the common good through the public school system?

Our tendency to view one of these options as the “right” approach for all Christian families can leave parents feeling insecure about the kind of education they provide. Even worse, it can lead to pridefulness and harsh judgment toward families who choose differently.

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A better approach is to acknowledge that each educational model has merit, but none of them is perfect. No theory of education can account for all the particulars of a family’s situation: What are public schools like in my area? Is private school or homeschooling a financial or logistical possibility? What are my child’s unique needs?

We may begin with a hierarchy of values but make difficult choices based on the realities of a specific situation. My parents were passionate about homeschooling, but when my dad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer during my third-grade year, they enrolled us in a private school so my mom could be his caregiver. Some friends of mine—who are big proponents of public school—are finally moving their kids to a private high school because screen-time in the classroom was becoming a concern. I’ve known families with neurodivergent children who’ve found the best fit in public, private, and home school scenarios.

But ultimately no theory of education can fully mitigate human fragility and sin. Those wary of public schools might point out that children can be exposed to inappropriate and dangerous behaviors in public school; the social environment may not inspire them toward Christian virtues. But a private, privileged educational environment can be destructive in its own way if it breeds pride and ignorance toward people outside their social circles. (After attending a Christian high school in the South, I learned—the hard way—that some of the expressions my classmates had used for people were actually racial slurs.) In view of the myriad ways any environment full of young people can “go wrong,” it can be tempting to think that keeping our kids home is the safest option. But the worst behavior my family personally encountered growing up was from another homeschool family we trusted.

I don’t mean to be a fearmonger. I do mean to grapple with the hard truth that no matter how our children are educated, we can’t protect them from needing a Savior. Whether they grow up reading primarily from great books or Chromebooks, in an overpopulated school or with a few siblings at home, exposed to unbiblical examples at an early age or shielded from them, they will still need to encounter Christ. They will be sinned against and will sin against others. They will struggle.

Some of them will become thought leaders. Some will experience mental illness. Some of them will grow deep roots in their faith. Others may walk away.

Decisions about school still matter. But we must recognize that no formula can accurately predict outcomes. In the absence of a perfect environment for children, parents must rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance. As a parent, this is both freeing and a little terrifying. It means I don’t need to worry so much about achieving the “Christian ideal” for my kids’ education.

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But also, my inability to fully protect or control their stories as they grow means I too need a Savior, a higher power upon whom to cast my cares and hopes. I must trust Jesus with my inadequacies as a parent and the inadequacies of whatever academic, spiritual and social environments my kids encounter. I must pray for my children in humility, knowing that their development is ultimately in God’s hands.

Christians need to be free to discern the needs of their children apart from the ideological freight of rigid absolutes. An older couple I knew told me they make school decisions on a yearly basis for each child. That approach enables them to be good shepherds of their family in partnership with the Good Shepherd who knows us each by name (John 10:3).

Realistically, not every family has the privilege of reevaluating educational options each year. But each family can seek to depend upon God for the needs of their children. He loves our children individually, as well as the communities in which we live. We can cast our family’s anxieties upon him, because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7), and we can trust that he has appointed each of us in the time and place we find ourselves (Acts 17:26). According to him, the “right” school choice is the one that’s well discerned in dependence upon his Spirit.

God has given my husband and me a deep desire to invest in our local community, so our children have always attended public schools. A close friend of mine has kids in public school because it’s the only option she can afford. In both scenarios, God is present and sufficient. In every scenario, human families and communities are deficient apart from him.

As we shepherd our children in reliance on his Spirit, we can do so with the freedom of knowing that their greatest need—to know Jesus Christ—can be met wherever they attend school.

Hannah Miller King is an Anglican priest and author of Feasting On Hope: How God Sets A Table in the Wilderness. You can find her on Substack.

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