No need for more home-school regulation

6 February 2000

By Catherine M. Deddens

I am responding to the Jan. 29 editorial concerning home schooling. Let me describe some of the positive facts surrounding home education. (More can be found on the National Home Education Research Institute Web site at http://www.nheri.org/booklet.html).

The average home-educated student:

• Scores in the 70th to 80th percentile in all areas on standardized achievement tests. The national average is the 50th percentile.
• Performs well academically regardless of the level of education of the teaching parent(s), even if the parents are not certified as teachers, and in states where home schooling is not highly regulated.
• Has significantly fewer behavior problems, a more positive self-concept and is more mature and more socialized than those who attend conventional schools. Finally, as adults, very few home-educated students are likely to be unemployed or on welfare.

The editorial focused on the worry that some home-schooled students are being cheated out of an education. The above statistics dramatically suggest otherwise, and therefore I raise several questions:

What are the specific instances prompting Rep. Barbara Colter to propose this legislation? How many home-schooled children in Kentucky actually fall into this category? Why, exactly (since if these laws are passed, Kentucky will rank among the strictest states in the nation with regard to home schooling) are current regulations insufficient?

The current laws governing home schooling in Kentucky classify home schools with private schools, mandating that at least reading, writing, spelling, grammar, history, mathematics and civics be taught; the school term be 185 days, including no less than the equivalent of 175 six-hour instructional days; scholarship reports be recorded, all subjects graded and attendance records be kept; and home schools be open to inspection by directors of pupil personnel or officials of the Department of Education.

Based upon the above, why are additional laws are required?

I believe extremely few home-educated students are cheated out of an education. I would speculate that a higher percentage of public high school students in Kentucky graduate, yet remain illiterate.

In a recent study (see http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v7n8/) of the home schooling community, a demographic profile of the average family appeared. Home-schooling parents tend to be more educated (88 percent continued their education past high school, compared with 50 percent in the nation) and are virtually always married (98 percent).

Home-educated children watch less television than students nationwide (65 percent of home-school students watch one hour or less of television a day). Roughly 25 percent are enrolled one or more grades above their peers in traditional school settings. On average, in grades 1 to 4, they perform one grade level above their counterparts in private and public schools on achievement tests. By the eighth grade, they are four years ahead.

Do these families seem irresponsible about the education of their children?

The editorial said that home-school parents doing a "good job" should not mind additional regulations. I disagree. Since when did government over-regulation produce satisfactory, let alone successful, results? All parents should mind when the government begins to claim their children as its own.

The public school system in America was pioneered by Thomas Jefferson. He believed no country would be free if its citizens were unenlightened. In "A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge," he writes that all governments, even the best ones, tend toward tyranny. The only way to ensure democracy is to "... illuminate ... the minds of the people ... (particularly by teaching them their own history and that of other nations)." Only in this manner, according to Jefferson, will the people be able to recognize and fight against government usurpation of their freedoms.

Would Jefferson think our government educational system is enlightening our children? Daunting illiteracy rates, ignorance of our own nation's history (let alone that of any other), lack of responsible and mature behavior, violence that is rampant, materialistic superficiality that abounds ... can we call this enlightened education?

The government educational system may train graduates to go to work, powering the economic engine of our nation, but are they enlightened? Are they free? Or are they slaves to their pocketbooks and greedy marketers?

Are they free, or are they easily duped by slick politicians with questionable characters? Are they free, or are they creatures of conformity who will permit the creeping spread of government tyranny to choke the breath of freedom from our nation?

I have made the choice to home school because I believe it is best for my children spiritually, academically, socially and physically. I don't assert it is best for everyone, nor do I wish to criticize those who send their children to traditional schools.

I do, however, reserve the right to criticize my government and its policies and to judge the success or failure of its endeavors. I therefore claim the freedom to educate my children in my own home, in the best way I can. This is an expression of my fundamental rights as a free American citizen.

Catherine M. Deddens of Fordsville is a home-schooling mother of two.