Heidi Liscomb | September 22, 2022
We all remember 2020, yes? The year – the annus horribilus of fear, shock, confusion and upheaval? Yes, I thought so. In the midst of a locked down nation in which children were being forced to stay at home and attend to their education from whatever room housed their computer, and which everyone mistakenly referred to as “homeschooling”, Harvard University recently enthusiastically touted an article by the renowned, in certain circles, child welfare and family law expert Elizabeth Bartholet. (Bartholet, Elizabeth “Homeschooling: Parental Rights Absolutism vs. Child Rights to Education & Protection”. Arizona Law Review, 2020. https://arizonalawreview.org/homeschooling-parent-rights-absolutism-vs-child-rights-to-education-protection/). In this article Bartholet called for the abolishment of homeschooling due to the great risks it presents to children who might be under the authoritarian influence of their parents. Worse yet if those parents happened to be Christian. Under those circumstances, she seemed to imply, because of an unknown set of variables in a household claiming exemption from public school standards based on their religious beliefs, there should be even greater oversight. No! Actually! Oversight wasn’t enough! It should be abolished! Laws should be passed! No one should be allowed to homeschool!
At the time it seemed like just one more thing in a year of many things that we had to absorb into our already overfull psyches, a dreadfully tone-deaf foray on the part of Harvard into the land of “the little people”, those families who, without being given a choice, found themselves responsible for their children’s education. While I really don’t expect much from Harvard in terms of relevance or connection to the world that the rest of us inhabit; I confess to having had hope that their output might begin to at least give a transitory nod to the consistently increasing numbers of families who are choosing homeschooling, even when schools aren’t closed! But, alas, it is not to be, and the drumbeats of fear continue unabated from the deep left who have an agenda of state control in all things. The timing of the publication of that particular interview seemed suspect at best to me because the facts are that a favorable popular opinion regarding homeschooling continues to grow unabated.
Harvard experts notwithstanding, the numbers show that there is nothing but growing support for homeschooling from nearly all other corners of society, and especially in New York state, and we must remember that there is, in fact, strength in numbers.
The number of home-schooled students has grown by over 65% to 54,414 and across the five boroughs of New York City, it has grown by an astonishing 88% since 2019.
Prior to the covid years, homeschooling grew at a fairly steady pace with some ebb and flow, putting the rate of growth at somewhere between 2 and 8%. This is proof that families in New York State have been feeling for quite some time that public education has not been adequately meeting the needs of their children and that they wanted to try something different. In addition to the sheer increase in numbers of families who are homeschooling, dozens of social media groups have sprung up with links to resources, co-ops, and other support groups to help meet the demands of families taking on these new roles and their accompanying challenges. When I was co-hosting a Facebook group, I found that many families were expressing their fears and concerns surrounding home education, and unfortunately, the current environment which continues to have us all reeling from what feels like a seismic shift in our society is not one that is conducive to soothing those fears. It is perhaps because of the success and fast paced levels of growth in the homeschooling community, that people are looking around and wondering whether they will be able to continue on their home education journey.
I continue to hear from many of those families and the big question on everyone’s minds is, “will the state target homeschooling?” The answer to that question is always yes. It has always been yes, it will always be yes.
The state does not encourage homeschooling and it never will. The state does not want to have to engage in a managerial relationship with families who fall outside of their domain of control because it costs them money to do so and therefore it is in their best interest to keep as many children and families under the big umbrella of public education as possible. Or at least in some institution where they can keep an eye on them. Remember, the bottom line here is revenue streams. If it is costing the state money to be concerned with homeschooling families, they will try to minimize the numbers of families making that educational choice.
That being said, it is my strongly held opinion that not only will the state meet an incredibly robust, organized group of families who will actively resist their interference in their rights to homeschool their children, but they know this, and therefore will not take any strong action against homeschoolers as a group. Ironically, we’re like unions now, but with a characteristically informal yet strong organizational structure that is growing by leaps and bounds every year. Because of this growth the state will only move against us as a group if a single legislator is able to gain enough traction to pass a bill, or bills that begin to chip away at the foundational structure of homeschooling law. This could, in theory, happen, particularly in districts in New York city where the numbers are growing exponentially year over year and where Democrats who are heavily funded by the large and well-funded National Education Association are in charge of the government. There are several legislators that I can think of who would happily dismantle homeschooling as an option in the state and I encourage you to follow yours and see what they are up to with regard to the bills drafted that might impact your right and ability to educate your children.
The Nation Education Association is a real threat to the homeschooling environment in terms of supporting candidates who will push anti-homeschooling legislation. Their activity and donation history should be monitored closely, especially during election years as they would love nothing better than to make homeschooling nearly impossible to do in all 50 states. Here is a sample of what this organization believes; from their 2020-2021 Resolution:
Page 37: “B-83. Home Schooling The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state curricular requirements, including the taking and passing of assessments to ensure adequate academic progress. Home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used. The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools. The Association further believes that local public school systems should have the authority to determine grade placement and/or credits earned toward graduation for students entering or re-entering the public school setting from a home school setting. (1988, 2006)” You can read more about them and who they support here: National Education Association | NEA
Is this a real threat? Yes and no. They have not gotten past this “drafting a resolution” phase, but we know from other sources that they have just pivoted and decided to target single states by developing relationships with sympathetic legislators who would help them to push this resolution into a bill that might actually get on the floor of the legislature. Does that pressure to pass restrictive legislation include New York? It’s hard to say, but it is well known that New York state is one of only a few other states in which homeschooling families *already* carry a heavy regulatory burden. Here’s a map of the country based on the level of state oversight into the lives of homeschoolers, note well the states in red.
Only four other states have the same level of bureaucracy surrounding homeschooling, with most other states in the Low to Moderate levels. Truth be told, I’m not in favor of severely limiting state regulations and am not even sure that the super low regulations are appropriate either. Children are a vulnerable class of people who must be protected from adults who may not have their best interests at heart and we know that these adults exist and that tragedies occur. There is a reason for the vast foster care system in our country; not everyone is good.
Still, as with most things, those are the outliers and we only hear about them when tragedy occurs, which we know to be an extension of the “if it bleeds, it leads” perspective of our cynical mainstream media outlets. We don’t hear about the millions of kids being home schooled with great success. The vast majority, the overwhelming number I would say, of families involved in homeschooling are just average people who have decided that they want to take their children’s educations into hand because they see that they are not being well served in the public institutions. To that end, they operate fully in good faith; educating their children in the manner they say that they will and the regulations already in place have the data to back that up.
Since we know that homeschooling is always going to be at risk, especially in an already over-regulated state such as New York in which Democrats hold the legislative power, we should also know that there is an organization whose sole purpose is to push back against the over-regulation of home education. Their agency exists to support homeschooling, fight for the rights of homeschoolers who may have been unfairly targeted and be a watchdog for any and all potential legislative risks to the ability to continue to freely engage in homeschooling. It is the Homeschooling Legal Defense Agency and it covers all 50 states and has resources around the world that are accessible through their services. Founded by two homeschooling dads who also happened to be attorneys, in 1983, they provide legal and educational consulting and resources and even financial grants to over 100,000 member families. Their team of attorneys work with state legislators to draft homeschooling friendly laws and then act as a watchdog on government agencies, ensuring that they abide by those laws. They keep homeschooling families in the loop on any issues that might impact them and help them to organize as a lobbying force should the need arise to challenge any roadblocks that the state might decide to throw up. They are a strong ally and I encourage any homeschooling family to at least give them a look if not support them financially. Their work helps to keep our freedom to choose home education alive and I have found that many people feel a sense of security just knowing that they are out there and available for consultation should the need arise. Find HSDLA here: https://hslda.org/
There is so much to say about this issue; about liberty and autonomy and the right to make choices for your family that align with your values and how it seems that we have moved into a more tightly regulatory environment since the beginning of 2020. Whether that environment will continue to grow in scope and threaten our ability to educate our children at home remains to be seen, but the important takeaway here is to be informed, but not fearful. Understand what your working environment is and keep a side-eye on it, but live your lives, educate your children and most of all enjoy the truly limited time that you have with them. Live with hope and joy. You’ll be so glad that you did.