November 18, 2009 2:11PM 

# A Pledge Worthy of a Free People 

By [Andrew J. Coulson](https://www.cato.org/people/andrew-coulson) 

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I’ve long criticized having state school officials lead students in a [pledge of allegiance to the state](https://www.cato.org/2006/07/24/and-the-banana-republic-for-which-it-stands/). It runs precisely counter to our nation’s founding principles. Michael Lind has gone beyond criticism and proposed [an alternative pledge](http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2009/11/16/pledge_of_allegiance), more fitting to a free people. It’s definitely worth reading.

Of course a free people deserve a free intellectual and education marketplace, in which parents choose their children’s schools without state interference. Those schools, acting in *loco parentis*, could decide what, if any, pledges their students recite. They could even chose the current one, if that strikes their fancy. That’s what freedom’s all about.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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