Homeschoolers have asked us why we support homeschooling so strongly. Our headmasters (but not necessarily our teachers or staff) believe that teachers and homeschool students share a common cause: rebellion against factory-modeled education and a genuine belief that parents have the right and responsibility to choose their children's education wisely. We support the California Homeschool Network's pledge to serve "families across a diverse spectrum of homeschooling styles and philosophies" and to "protect the fundamental right of the family to educate its children in the manner it deems appropriate...."
Homeschoolers turn to family doctors, who prescribe medicine, CPA's who remedy finances and lawyers who gain child custody, but they flee from government school teachers who cannot even prescribe fine textbooks to suit children's individual tastes and abilities. More like sanitation workers than independent professionals, teachers must obey administrators and pay dues to trade unions whose politics they may deplore. Homeschoolers, who must fend off bureaucrats and unions with imposing budgetary and political advantages, handicap themselves in politics by alienating virtually all professional educators and cut themselves off from creative professionals who may widen their career choices. These rebel students should attract rebel teachers to their cause: the promise of educational freedom will win over the best teachers.
Most homeschoolers believe that schooling should take place "at home;" yet they have established cooperatives and hired teachers when needed. Parents of younger children can homeschool most easily because their loving attention more than compensates for pedagogical training; yet they might appreciate the social support centers offer, especially if they are not connected to a church. Unfortunately, the technical challenges of homeschooling multiply as children get older. Purist parents frequently cannot teach their own children Calculus, German and AP Literature, but homeschool centers may provide the critical masses needed to form teaching co-ops or economical classes. Christian churches may serve as the centers for Christian homeschoolers, but secular homeschooling centers will secure Christian legal victories by attracting millions more to homeschooling.
If homeschooling had a prominent place name and public presence, more
Americans would sign up. Homeschool centers would
help homeschoolers support chemistry and physics labs, drama, choir
and musicals in auditoriums, competitive teams in sports fields
and gyms, exciting social dances and spectacular graduations. Homeschool
centers could form Advanced Placement classes to help students who
wish to avoid government education obtain college credits accepted
more readily than Junior College credit. AP success enhances college
applications and speeds college graduation. We applaud homeschoolers
who skip high school and enter fine universities at young ages,
or even those who homeschool college. Yet we also believe homeschool
centers may foster a much larger core of academically-proficient
homeschool students who gain entry to Harvard, Princeton and Stanford.
If the best students leave public schools (which currently bore
them), more average students will follow them-perhaps millions more.
Homeschool parents must seek higher levels of education to multiply their influence and numbers in a professional society, thereby drawing in the best and brightest; they must be willing to hire independent professionals when needed. This will give homeschoolers access to the majority of jobs and business opportunities, which now require college education. They should consider forming many kinds of homeschool centers to challenge governmental indoctrination at all levels and to give both teachers and students the academic freedom they need to achieve academic excellence.