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Homeschooling- The School Choice Movement

Kasiopeia West

POLS 1100

Salt Lake Community College 2021

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Homeschooling is education that is provided at home by parents rather than in a public

school taught by an educator. Homeschooling became popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s when

parents began to question the adequacy of public schooling. Brain D. Ray Ph.D. with the

National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), reports the upwards trend has continued

and by 2019, 2.5 million children were being homeschooled in the United State. This number

rose to 3.7 million in 2020 due to the pandemic. With the rise in popularity, controversy has

taken center stage in the media and in state government. Should all schooling be regulated by the

government? Advocates urge that home-schooling is better in ways that protect children from

violence, drugs, and unwanted ideologies and demand ‘school choice”, whereas, education

experts and school boards argue that homeschooling is dangerous to a child’s social development

and may not promote a “well-rounded” education that public school offers.

Education experts and school boards have brought the argument that because

homeschooling is not regulated by the government, that the children are not being taught a

formal education. They argue that parents are not educated and could very well be illiterate

themselves. In addition to the education concern, there is a large window for any abuse in the

home to go unchecked. Researcher at the Independent Institute in California, Vicky Alger, who

has written several books on the history of the U.S. Department of Education states in her article

from experts interviewed, “Absent government intervention, parents control their children’s

education and upbringing…. which could be deemed authoritarian and dangerous.” Many

experts believe that homeschooling interferes with a child’s social developments as well,

claiming that a child is not exposed to community, social, and democratic values and may hinder

their ability for tolerance of other’s views.

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Many parents have advocated for “school choice” and have brought it to their local

school board and state government, to allow the practice. Although homeschooling is one of the

earliest forms of education, many families are choosing to continue the trend due to concerns

surrounding many ideas. Jameson Brewer, an Assistant Professor in the Teacher Education

Department, named the Outstanding Doctoral Student when he graduated with his Ph.D. in

Education Policy Studies from the University of Illinois, and Christopher Lubienski, an expert on

education policy and reform who studies the effects of school choice policies, report in their

article from Scholars Strategy Network, the most popular concerns are religious or political

content of public-school curriculum. The safety of children has also become a top reason that

families are choosing to homeschool their children. Especially with the pandemic that began in

the 2020 school year.

Still, many stand against the notion that homeschooling should be legal. Alger mentions

in her article, “Horace Mann, considered the Father of American Public Education…and other

leading 19th- and 20th-century education theorists, such a system would improve our

“democratic” institutions through the distinctly un-democratic means of forcing parents —

especially poor and immigrant parents — to send their children to government-run schools that

would instill the proper “social and political consciousness.”, and that “children are property of

the state.” This view is at odds because the Constitution never mentions education or that the

federal government have any enumerated power of it. This becomes an issue with some such as

Elizabeth Bartholet, the Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law and Faculty

Director of the Child Advocacy Program (CAP), who regularly states the Constitution is

“outdated and inadequate.”

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This leaves the ‘call to action’ up to state government. Should the government be

involved in school choice? While the debate over whether homeschooling should be regulated by

the government or not has been a controversy for many years, I do believe that there is plenty of

room for compromise. In taking the viewpoints into consideration, I can see why education

experts would be concerned about the efficiency of parents teaching their children; along with

the parents’ desire to give their children the opportunity to learn at their own pace and protect

them from undesirable encounters that go on in public schools. Some experts, including Michael

B. Horn who serves on the advisory boards of several education organizations, argues that the

mix of home, public, and online learning (often called hybrid homeschooling) seems to hold the

most promise. In hybrid schooling, some classes are held in a public-school building, and the

remainder of learning is at home, or even in an online learning environment in the mix. This

would allow some government regulation to ensure educational standards are met, along with

interaction with at-risk children and socialization, but also the freedom for outdoor learning,

religious teachings and family bonds offered at home (Horn, 2021).

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References

Alger, Vicki. (2020, May 20). Homeschooling- two views: Homeschooling a risk to children. My

Journal Courier. Homeschooling — two views: Homeschooling a risk to children

(myjournalcourier.com)

Bartholet, Elizabeth. (2020, Jan 1). Homeschooling: Parents Rights Absolutism Vs. Child Rights

to Education & Protection. Arizona Law Review Homeschooling: Parent Rights

Absolutism vs. Child Rights to Education & Protection | Arizona Law Review

Brewer, Jameson T. (2017, Nov. 2). Does Homeschooling Improve Educational Opportunities?

Scholars Strategy Network https://scholars.org/contribution/does-homeschooling-

improve-educational-opportunities.

Horn, Michael B. (2021, July 29) A Robust and Timely Discussion of a New Kind of

Homeschooling. Education Next A Robust and Timely Discussion of a New Kind of

Homeschooling - Education Next

Ray, Brian D. Ph.D. (2021, Sept. 9) How Many Homeschool Students Are There in the United

States? Pre-Covid-19 and Post-Covid-19: New Data. National Home Education Research

Institute. How Many Homeschool Students Are There in the United States? Pre-Covid-19

and Post-Covid-19: New Data - National Home Education Research Institute (nheri.org)