CV NEWS FEED // Educators and political advocates gathered at a conference in California earlier this month, discussing how to bring universal school choice to the state as has occurred in several other states across the country.
The conference was sponsored by the bishops of California’s 12 dioceses. According to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, participants met with one goal in mind: “to build a political movement to give every California family the economic ability to send their children to the private, parochial, or public school of their choice.”
Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose told participants that school choice “is about social justice for the working poor.”
In the latest version of the USCCB’s guidelines for Catholic voters, the bishops stated that “Parents—the first and most important educators—have a fundamental right to choose the education best suited to the needs of their children, including public, private, and religious schools.”
They continued:
Government, through such means as tax credits and publicly funded scholarships, should help provide resources for parents, especially those of modest means, to exercise this basic right without discrimination. Students in all educational settings should have opportunities for moral and character formation consistent with the beliefs and responsibilities of their parents.
The Archdiocese of San Francisco reported that passing school choice laws has long seemed impossible in California due to its reputation as an overwhelmingly Democratic state.
Peter Murphy, a representative for school choice advocacy organization Invest in Education, said that the best way to have the option for school choice in California would be for the U.S. Congress to pass the Educational Choice for Children Act.
The act, which was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate last year, has faced several challenges before the Supreme Court but has not been struck down. According to the Archdiocese, it is supported by two-thirds of Republicans in Congress and is endorsed by six California representatives as well.
Murphy added that Californians can urge their own representative to support the act.
Lance Christiansen, a Latter-day Saint running for California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction 2026, told participants at the conference that passing school choice legislation requires the ability to work with people of different faiths.
“What you are endeavoring to do now — you have to bring people like me in, and then bring others who do not believe as we do,” he said.
He continued:
Religious freedom is not the issue. My theme is to add parents back into the education equation. We can really think about kids as that primary piece. Politics is hard. But it is also additive. We have to build relationships. We also have to do the right thing by doing things right.
“Go forward in peace, but let’s be successful,” Christiansen concluded.
