Homeschool National News
The Washington Post
July 9, 2007
by J. Michael Smith
HSLDA President
It
is no secret that homeschooling is growing and gaining credibility as a viable
educational alternative.
More
and more colleges are actively recruiting homeschooled students; each year
there are an estimated 50,000-plus homeschool high school graduates who find
work or go to college, and thousands of new curriculum products have become
available over the past five years. Meanwhile, the number of homeschoolers
continues to grow by 7 percent to 15 percent each year; more states are
reforming their laws to remove the burdens from parents who want to home
educate, and homeschoolers continue to excel in national competitions as well
as on standardized tests. In short, homeschooling is a major success story.
Now, for the first time, homeschooling has been recognized in an opinion by a U.S. Supreme Court justice as a viable educational alternative.
Morse v. Frederick, which recently made
national headlines, involves free speech and whether a public school can
regulate what a student says. The 5-4 decision said that the school principal,
Deborah Morse, did not violate the free speech rights of Joseph Frederick when
she took down his pro-marijuana banner, which said “Bong Hits 4
Jesus.” The student had violated school policy and was advocating illegal
drug use.
While
the Home School Legal Defense Association agrees with the ruling in this
specific case, it is a reminder to all families that when your child enters the
public school, you have virtually ceded your parental rights to the public
school.
The
clearest explanation of this view was expressed by the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals in Fields v. Palmdale,
when it said, “While parents may have a fundamental right to decide
whether to send their child to a public school, they do not have a fundamental
right generally to direct how a public school teaches their child.”
This
is the reason many parents have chosen to homeschool, especially those parents
who have a religious worldview, because they know their children will be taught
secular values by the public system.
In
Morse v. Frederick,
however, Justice Clarence Thomas said, “If parents do not like the rules
imposed by those schools, they can seek redress in school boards or
legislatures; they can send their children to private schools or home school
them; or they can simply move.”
This
is the first time the Supreme Court specifically has recognized homeschooling
as a viable educational alternative. HSLDA has worked for 24 years to advance a
parent’s right to homeschool and to promote homeschooling to the general public.
After
24 years, it is gratifying to read the words of a Supreme Court justice who
rightfully placed homeschooling on a level playing field with public and
private schools. This kind of recognition is tremendously significant to the homeschool
community.
It’s
another step on the long road to raise homeschooling to the point where, when
the terms public, private or homeschool are used in the same sentence, they all
will be seen as mainstream educational alternatives.
Homeschooling
is a modern education success story and HSLDA urges all parents to carefully
consider their educational options. Homeschooling should be front and center
because it is a viable alternative that has helped hundreds of thousands of
children become mature, productive citizens.
Michael Smith is the president of the
