I was going to title this the homeschool debate, then realized it’s not about homeschooling, its about public schools. The alternative is not just homeschooling, but private schools too. Homeschooling gets a bad rap for pulling kid out of the public school system, but people say they don’t have the money for private schooling and leave it at that. In reality, parents who choose to homeschool are the same as parents who choose the private schools. In the end, it’s the public schools they are avoiding.
There is a lot of debate about how to improve the public school system. In fact, public school teachers are often offended when kids are pulled – only when pulled for homeschooling though, ironically. It is a well known fact in the public school system that a private school student will be ahead of all public school students. Homeschool kids on the other hand? They are rebels who aren’t being educated, or have parents who think they can do a better job than a certified teacher.
Well actually, some parents can do better than a certified teacher – if a teacher at a private school can do better (based on test scores) than a teacher at a public school, why can’t a parent do better? I think it’s not a matter of who does a better job, it’s a matter of parents taking control of their child’s education. Some parents choose to educate at home, some choose to lobby for better public schools and some parents choose to pay for private school.
Why should we criticize any parent for being involved enough in their child’s education to make a tough decision? Homeschooling is not an easy choice, just ask one of the thousands of homeschoolers who give up their time each and every day to ensure their children have a good education. Private school is not an easy choice, just as the thousands of parents who give up their hard earned money to pay 15,000-20,000 or more a year on top of taxes for public schools. Public school is the easy answer, unless you want a good education for your child, then it is a hard choice too – just ask the few parents who put the time and effort into working with teachers and schools and spending the time working with their child to ensure a good education.
The parent who sends a child to the public school system blindly, expecting a well educated child after high school graduation with no effort on their part, is the parent who should be criticized.
In the end, a good education is the goal, and reaching the goal is difficult no matter which path you choose to take. So public school teachers, back off of homeschool families, the effort of a good education for an individual child takes time and effort and money on the part of the parent, regardless of the direction they steer.
Looking for more information on homeschooling? Check out My Homeschool Guide
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