Liberty, Parents, and the School Choice Debate w/ Jason Bedrick, Heritage Foundation

What happens when your zip code determines your child’s future?

In this episode, Will and Josh talk with Jason Bedrick, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, to unpack the complex—and often contentious—landscape of school choice. Bedrick shares his 20+ year journey in education reform, tracing his advocacy for parental rights and religious liberty back to a post-9/11 awakening and Milton Friedman’s theories.

The conversation explores vouchers, education savings accounts (ESAs), the history and distortion of school choice post-Brown v. Board, and how pandemic-era frustrations accelerated parental engagement. Bedrick also addresses the tension between religious freedom and government schooling, pushing back on claims that school choice fuels segregation or undermines civic unity.

If you’re wondering how school choice intersects with parental rights, government responsibility, First Amendment protections, or the values debate in public schools, this episode is a must-listen.

Subscribe, share, and join the conversation as we examine what true educational freedom looks like—and who gets to decide.

👤 Guest Bio

Jason Bedrick is a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, where he focuses on education freedom, religious liberty, and classical education. A former New Hampshire state legislator, Bedrick has spent over two decades working in the school choice movement and is one of the nation's most prominent voices advocating for education savings accounts and parental rights.