Homeschool Controversies: Regulating Homeschool - How Far Should It Go?
By Mimi Rothschild
With a steadily increasing number of parents choosing to homeschool each year, school districts and state legislatures are starting to take more notice. Until fairly recently, school districts and state governments considered homeschool a minor issue. They were content to establish basic rules and guidelines for homeschool students and then leave them to their learning. The rising popularity of homeschool, however, has prompted some state and district leaders to consider stricter legislation in regard to homeschool- much to the dismay of the majority of homeschool families. Some legislators and school district leaders are proposing more stringent policing methods of homeschool families because they are concerned about abuse of the system by parents who claim to homeschool simply to avoid truancy accusations and penalties.
Although homeschool is not immune to corruption and abuse, the vast majority of parents who homeschool do so for valid reasons: to provide a more personalized education for their children, to include religious beliefs in the curriculum, and because they have concerns about the increasing danger in public schools. Many parents have been providing a successful and beneficial homeschool environment for their children for years, without having to adhere to strict guidelines set by the state or their local school district. Many legislators and school officials are proposing such regulations as required periodic standardized tests for homeschool students, as well as making homeschool parents use only state or district-approved curriculums.
To lose flexibility and freedom of choice - two of the more positive benefits of homeschool – because of a few bad apples is not something that homeschool families want to see happen. All conscientious homeschool parents believe that abusing the right to homeschool by using it to avoid responsibility is completely unacceptable. Most feel, however, that it is not right to punish or place under suspicion the majority of homeschool families simply because of the possible unscrupulous practices of a very small minority of parents. Statistics consistently show that homeschool students do extremely well academically without stringent guidelines set by governments and school districts- from the early years through college graduation.
Another concern legislators state is that homeschool takes away from public school funding. Most homeschool parents, however, are quick to point out the weakness of this statement. Homeschool parents pay taxes just like everyone else, and a part of these taxes go to supporting their local school districts. In addition, homeschool families do not receive money from the state for their homeschool supplies, so they are not taking away from public school funding.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, children's rights activist, author, and Founder and C.E.O. of online education company Learning by Grace, Inc. Rothschild and her husband of twenty-eight years reside in suburban Philadelphia with their eight children.
Feeling that “our current system of education has broken its promise,” Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. to provide families with Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children all over the world.
In addition to her twenty years of experience as a homeschool mother, Rothschild has written a number of books dealing with education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Home Education Websites Blog consists of helpful online content and activities for Christian homeschooling families.
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