At Meridian Learning, we believe true educational freedom means staying rooted in our mission, not tethered to unstable state programs or outside corporate influence. One of the reasons we chose not to participate in Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program was our concern that the program would face constitutional challenges and legal instability. That concern is now being realized, with courts ruling the program unconstitutional and further litigation ahead.
👉 Read our full letter to families here.
Much of the current conversation around vouchers is framed in terms of “school choice,” but the truth is, parents already have choice. There are more educational options available than ever before, from microschools to homeschooling to hybrid models. Real choice doesn’t depend on a state-funded mechanism; it depends on access to clear information, community support, and broader systems that help children and families in meaningful, lasting ways.
At the same time, we are seeing a wider shift affecting education from another direction. Traditional for-profit companies like Pearson and Kaplan have been part of the landscape for many years, but private equity ownership and large-scale consolidation represent a newer level of commercial expansion. ACT’s 2024 shift from nonprofit testing organization to private equity-backed ownership, followed by its 2026 acquisition by ETS, is one example of how major educational institutions continue to be reshaped through ownership changes, market pressures, workforce credentialing, and scale.
This kind of corporate influence can lead to standardization, cost-cutting, and top-down decision making, values that run counter to the grassroots, learner-centered model we believe in. As more educational ventures become shaped by investor returns rather than student outcomes, the freedom to teach, to learn, and to lead authentically is at risk.
Looking ahead, we continue to forge our own path, preserving our grassroots origins, maintaining our independence, and staying intentionally small. This allows us to remain focused on what matters most: advancing meaningful learning through the empowerment of educators, children, and families.
The microschool movement is focused on sustainability, not “school choice.” “School choice” is largely being funded by billionaires with a goal to privatize public schools. The grassroots microschool movement, which evolved from the desire to incorporate the freedom and flexibility of homeschooling with the benefits of traditional schooling, operates outside of any movement to privatize public schools or shift funding to private schools. We have never needed public schools to “fail” in order for grassroots microschools to succeed, and we never will.