A recent column by Cynthia Allen called home-schooling “mainstream” (“Schooling at home now mainstream,” The Columbian, Nov. 18). While 5-6 percent is not insignificant, that number doesn’t compare with the nearly 75 million students who attend U.S. public schools.
More importantly, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the vast majority of home-schooled students are white and come from two-parent households where only one parent is in the workforce. In addition, after public safety, the most cited reason for home-schooling was “desire to provide moral instruction.” The column then calls for government funding for home-schooling.
Multiple teacher strikes in our area should signal the ludicrousness of this argument. U.S. public schools are underfunded. Home-schooling increased during the pandemic, but has leveled off and is starting to recede.
What hasn’t leveled off is the desire of parents, with the means to educate their children at home, to beg for government subsidies. Taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund educational environments that are not certificated or regulated, that tend to serve students from privileged backgrounds, do not aim to serve students with special needs, and do not admit all students regardless. Let’s keep Thomas Jefferson’s vision alive and not divert needed resources from public schools.
