Yglesias is writing on education and equality. And he hits exactly the note that I disagree with.

The issue here, however, isn’t choices that adults make for themselves but choices they make for their children which is a different matter entirely.

He thinks that the government, whoever the government may be at the moment, is a better arbiter of what children should learn than a parent. The government is not the parent. Russia tried that. It didn’t work out too well. Let’s not go there.

Yes, some individual parents make poor choices. But thousands, no millions, make the right ones. And a parent has an option of considering individuals which a government has neither the time nor the resources for. I’ve known homeschoolers to send a child to public school. I’ve known public school parents decide to homeschool one child. Parents are the best choice for making the decisions because they are closest to the impact.