A friend sent this to me. I’m not sure what organization Ian Slatter is with, but I thought this was an interesting read.
Response to the Washington Post
Homeschoolers Say No to Mandatory State Testing
Ian Slatter
Director of Media Relations
Director of Media Relations
August 25, 2009
“Homeschooling is the sleeping giant of the American education system,” is the opening line of a recent article by Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews.
He’s right.
He’s also right when he says, “All surveys of home-schooled students so far indicate they have higher achievement rates on average than regular students,” and when he dismisses the claim that homeschoolers might not be properly socialized by saying, “Homeschoolers go outside often and get just as big a dose of pain and joy and ignorance and wisdom as regular school kids.”
Where Mathews goes wrong is his support for a recommendation by Robert Kunzman, an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Education whose new book Write These Laws On Your Children: Inside the World of Conservative Christian Homeschooling, calls for all homeschoolers to be subjected to regular, compulsory, standardized state testing.
To be fair to Mathews, it seems that his desire is to defuse what he sees as a gathering movement within the public school establishment to regulate homeschoolers.
He reports that his contacts are becoming nervous about the fact that homeschoolers are nearing 4% of the school-aged population and growing at 9% per year.
“Some public school educators I know are uneasy about this. They don’t know home-schooling families well. They worry those kids are being ill-served by well-meaning but inexperienced parents. There is potential for more battles over regulating home-schooling.”
In effect, Mathews gives homeschoolers a gentle and timely reminder that we must be ever vigilant to defend our right to homeschool.
As Mathews correctly notes, HSLDA has been at the forefront of reducing regulations on homeschoolers, but he fails to mention why so many state legislatures have agreed with our view.
The crucial missing detail from Mathew’s article is that the homeschool academic surveys he alludes to show that the level of state regulation has no impact on the results of homeschooled students. Consider the most recent study of homeschool students’ test scores conducted by the National Home Education Research Institute, and commissioned by HSLDA. Homeschoolers in low regulation states scored on average in the 87th percentile and those from high regulation states (which require some form of testing) also scored in the 87th percentile.
The question HSLDA regularly puts before state legislatures is, “If government regulation does not improve the results of homeschoolers, why is it necessary?” The obvious conclusion based on the research is that government regulation of homeschoolers is a waste of taxpayers’ money and parents’ time.
Regrettably, many homeschoolers have known for some time that the success of the movement might provoke greater scrutiny. And the success of homeschooling cannot be denied. We continue to grow in numbers, and homeschooled children continue to significantly out-perform public school students—by 37 percentile points in the latest homeschool academic achievement study. This academic success is achieved at a fraction of the cost (average public school student—$10,000 per child per year—average homeschooler—$500 per child per year). No wonder we’ve drawn the attention of the education establishment.
Public school officials are accountable to taxpayers, and taxpayers may begin to ask, especially in an economy that’s struggling, questions like, “Why are my property taxes so high when homeschoolers are getting much better results for a fraction of the cost?”
The response brewing within the education establishment appears to be to try to make homeschoolers more like public school students by subjecting them to state-mandated testing. It’s not a strategy that will work.
Today, homeschoolers can be found in all walks of life and all political persuasions. We are a diverse movement with a variety of opinions. There’s one issue, however, that unites almost all homeschoolers—opposition to mandated state tests.
The reason is simple—once the state chooses the test, you have to “teach to the test”, and consequently your curriculum will have been chosen for you by the government. This is an intolerable intrusion and one that would radically alter homeschooling.
Freedom and flexibility are the hallmarks of homeschooling. Once they are removed and the state is allowed to regulate the curriculum through testing, then homeschooling will be changed beyond all recognition.
One of the main reasons homeschooling is so successful is because parents are able to design an education program for the individual child. Homeschooling parents can allow their children to advance rapidly in areas where they are strong and spend more time on areas where a child may be weak. Trying to advance at a state-mandated even pace through all subjects just isn’t feasible for homeschoolers.
There’s also the nagging question of what the state will do if a child fails one of its tests. Does that mean the child would be forced into public school?
The state has a legitimate interest in the upbringing and education of children by parents only when the state has evidence that the children are being harmed. It has no right to impose its education views on parents who choose to educate their children outside the state system.
HSLDA hopes that state legislatures will continue on their path of lifting restrictions on homeschooling and that the homeschool movement will continue to grow and thrive without state interference. But Jay Mathews has done the homeschool community a service by reminding us that people within the public education establishment are thinking about ways to regulate our education choices.
Every homeschooler should be ready and willing to actively oppose any attempt to impose a state mandated testing regime.
We have been warned.
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I think home education seems to cost less because of the inherent differences in the two systems. Home educators don't receive the things that many public school teachers receive: an income, a monetary retirement plan, health insurance, dental insurance, sick pay, etc. Building and maintenance costs are also absorbed by the home education families.
Private schools are a higher cost version of the public school that gives some of the advantages of home education. The cost is not more money spent per child, but more money from the family that pays for it plus paying for public school tax. Historically, parochial schools depended on nuns and brothers for reduced pay education. This is one area that can benefit from the recent emphasis on tithing in the Catholic Church. (There's nothing wrong with tithing, mind you. Pay unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and pay unto God that which is God's.)
Home educators generally choose to live the life of a two parent single income family. This is the family that existed through most of recent history. Earlier families were more extended or tribal, and people stayed near their extended family for safety and productivity reasons. The more recent developments of the two parent two income family, and the single parent single income family are living different life styles that often require moving away from family and generally preclude home education.
I have yet to see a study that examines the total cost of home education, public school education, and private school education on an apples to apples per child basis. Home educators point to the low cost per student and highly individualized attention that can lead to high scores. Public school people point out that the majority of families rely on public schools (two-income and single parent families), and conclude that the home educators should too. Private schools often play both sides of the fence and try to draw as little regulatory fire as possible. I think there's room for all options because all families are not the same.
Slatter is with the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), a legal and policy organization that helps to fight for parental rights over the upbringing of their children. It's a great organization to affiliate with if you are homeschooling, and a great resource for news and developments in the field.
Naive,
"I think home education seems to cost less because of the inherent differences in the two systems." No, it doesn't seem to cost less, it DOES cost less. You aptly pointed out why, I am not sure what you mean by an 'apples to apples' comparison. The only other 'cost' associated with homeschooling is the loss of income from the parent doing the homeschooling. I think you can be fair and add that to homeschooling cost – I sure wish I could deduct it from my taxes!
And yes HSLDA is an excellent organization, even if you don't homeschool you may want to donate to them. They champion not only Homeschool but Parental rights and are actively fighting the UN which is pushing 'children's rights' treaties (see previous post on 'Catholic Dads')
The costs of homeschooling are low, as my oldest is now starting kindergarten at home and we're buying curriculum now. We're looking at only a few hundred dollars a year, and many of those resources can be re-used for the younger kids later on.
Franklin makes a good point about the loss of income from the second parent, but if your situation is like ours with young kids, it can be very impractical for the second parent (Mom, in our case) to have a full-time job outside the home anyway.
We find the benefits to be heavier in other areas than financial, though. The school schedule is completely flexible and at our pace and requirements. It's portable, can be expedited if the child is progressing rapidly and can be slowed if the child is having trouble.
Plus, we can focus on things that the child is excited about and use that as a tool for other learning. For instance, my son is obsessed with maps. So I use maps as an extra learning tool for reading, symbols, directions, etc.
And you can bet that I won't be teaching my children about the latest trend in "family planning," or how homosexual unions are the same as marriage. We can make sure that they are getting an education focused on a life lived in Christ.
As a Catholic Dad, a Viet-Nam veteran, a Reagan Republican, and a (gasp) public-school teacher I am so with you. Parents (two of 'em) are a child's first, best, and always teachers. But please, please, please vote in your local school board elections. It's not simply your right (and you're paying for all of it anyway), it's your duty, after the Order of St. Joseph, to all the other children.
I'm about to begin homeschooling for my 5 year old. Any resources or curricula you would recommend?
Thanks!
I've heard that K12 is good. Bill Bennett is behind it. They are at http://www.k12.com.
We're starting with Kindergarten curriculum this year from Catholic Heritage Curriculum and supplementing with some stuff from Kolbe and/or Seton.
Friends of ours are using Kolbe and Seton exclusively, while another friend uses Saxon (?) for math.
Google them for more info.