ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the Dutch educational system recognizes the right of parents from a wide variety of worldviews to direct their children’s education. In stark contrast to the United States, the Dutch state provides financial support so that foundations of like-minded parents can establish, maintain, and govern schools that reinforce rather than undermine their own deepest convictions. After a short introduction, I summarize the development of American mass education. Then, by way of contrast, I describe the historical struggle of the Netherlands to design a national educational system which fairly accommodated its diverse populace. Following a brief discussion of how the Dutch constitutional amendment of 1917 finds contemporary expression in a modern society, I examine some of Abraham Kuyper’s principled rationales for a pluralistic school system. I conclude with some thoughts on how the Dutch model could be of value in the American context.
