Nicholas Freitas, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, said that parents encounter indoctrination in public schools without the freedom to redirect their education funding.
“Supreme Court Justice KBJ says if you don’t like the public school system indoctrinating your children…you can leave,” said Freitas, House Representative. “But you can’t take your money of course!”
During oral arguments in April 2025, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson remarked that if parents dislike their child’s public school curriculum, “you can put them in another situation.” As reported by the New York Post, this comment was interpreted by some legal analysts and school choice advocates as a tacit endorsement of educational alternatives such as private or charter schools. The statement has since fueled broader debate over parental rights and curriculum transparency.
According to EdChoice, over one million K–12 students participated in private school choice programs in 2024, including vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, and education savings accounts. More than half of U.S. states now offer at least one school choice option, and 13 states created or expanded such programs in 2024. These trends reflect growing demand among families for alternatives to traditional public schools.
In 2022, state-level spending averaged just over $7,000 per student in universal school choice programs compared to about $7,700 per student in state public school funding. According to Education Week, these figures reveal that education savings accounts and voucher programs often operate with similar per-pupil costs as public schools, challenging assumptions that school choice is significantly less expensive.
Freitas has represented Virginia’s 62nd district since 2016 and is a Republican known for his advocacy of limited government and school choice. According to Ballotpedia, he is a former Army Green Beret who serves on the House Education Committee and has sponsored legislation to expand educational alternatives for families in Virginia. His platform emphasizes parental rights in education.
