In an apparent effort to lower the high school dropout rate in Indiana, school districts have decided that no one will be allowed to drop out. Instead, those no longer willing or able to complete their studies must register as homeschoolers. These families are not being told that registering as a homeschooler is a voluntary decision. They are essentially being forced to “homeschool”.
The person who thought up this little scheme must be very proud of him/herself. Not only have the school districts “fixed their numbers” by refusing to record these dropouts as what they are, but they have also sullied the reputation of homeschoolers. By pushing dropouts into the homeschool category, the public schools have lowered the appearance of the effectiveness of homeschooling. Now they can say, “Look at all of these homeschoolers who are unsuccessful”. “They never finished high school.” “They never got into college.” “They never got a job.” “See, homeschooling doesn’t work.” The beautiful part is that this failure would have been their own doing. They have affectively taken children they have failed and made it the problem of homeschoolers.
This is not to say that homeschoolers do not welcome these late and often hopeless homeschoolers into the ranks. HSLDA recommends that homeschoolers reach out to these new “homeschoolers” to help them to adjust and to assist them in earning a high school diploma.
While this is not a known problem in my area, I have advised the parents of several teens who have given up on schooling on how to finish their child’s education and assign them a diploma. It can be done, and many young people can be successful even with a late start.
Still, what these Indiana and other school districts across the country are doing is what I consider homeschool abuse.
Homeschool Questions: Homeschool Failures