I’ve only been homeschooling for a few years. . .my oldest is in third grade. But like all homeschoolers, I’ve heard my fair share of objections. I’m either unqualified (because you know, colors, numbers and shapes are so hard to master) or my children will be behind socially. I’ve pretty much accepted the fact that we’re misfits and I’m okay with that on a personal level.
However, it has always bothered me on a more philosophical level. I mean, we live in a society that is pretty much “live and let live.” No one wants to be told how to live or tell anyone else how to live and “tolerance” is the buzz word of the decade. We must, at all costs, be tolerant of one another. Yet, some people dare to question my right as a parent to home educate my children? Where’s the tolerance in that?
The most vocal of opponents to homeschooling is the NEA. That makes sense–it is, after all a group of people who make their living from teaching other people’s kids. However, I have heard more than a few teachers complain about homeschooling: its lack of regulations (which is really debatable), the right to choose the option (you’ll note the NEA is opposed to all forms of school choice–not just homeschooling), and the real issue–that it doesn’t support the public school system.
The real problem with homeschooling is money. In my district, at the school my children would attend, the school receives approximately $14,000 per pupil. This means that should our family continue to homeschool all the way through highschool, we will deprive the public school system of close to one million dollars. Really, the figure is probably more than that because undoubtedly, the cost per student will rise significantly by the time my twins finish high school.
Some would like us to believe that more money for schools means better schools. That is true if the money gets spent in the right places. In our school district, the janitor makes substantially more money than a teacher with 5 years of experience and a Master’s degree. The classrooms don’t have books in them (or at least the couple that I’ve seen) because the kids will destroy them. I’m not saying that the janitor, or other school support for that matter, aren’t necessary. But I question a system that doesn’t pay more equivocally based on experience and education. I question a system where employees are paid at the expense of other necessary classroom items. (I cannot believe, no matter how necessary and vital janitors are, that books are not equally if not more so, vital to the educational system.)
I don’t have the answers to fix the public education system. I am a firm believer that monopolies are generally not good things and that school choice may well improve public schooling. However, let’s call the issue as it is. Homeschooling deprives the public schools of money and that is the reason that organizations that support public schooling are against homeschooling. It has nothing to do with my child’s socializing skills or their academic skills. It has to do with money.
A part of me wonders if we started calling the issue as it is, if we couldn’t begin to address the needs with real solutions instead of costly and unnecessary regulations against homeschoolers.