John Locke is often taken to be a staunch defender of parents' rights in the realm of education. In fact, Locke's pedagogical reasons for preferring home education to school education do not necessarily apply to similar choices in modern contexts. Locke's political argument for defining education as a duty of parents rather than the state does not mean that the state has no legitimate interests in providing or regulating education, as seen in an analysis of Locke's writings on toleration where he explores different societies that exist for different ends but that also make conflicting jurisdictional claims. (Contains 3 notes.)