Public Educators Losing Parent Acclaim to Home-Schooling

According to Fox News, many parents are outraged and alarmed by Common Core, the federal government’s national solution to improving education outcome.  The perception of an increased number of parents is that Common Core is creating a progressive-friendly and impossible-to-understand new curriculum.  Parents claim their children’s public school lessons are pushing a political agenda.  As a result, it appears that more and more parents are pulling their kids out of public schools.

 

The home-schooling boom is getting a new push due to the increased opposition to Common Core.  North Carolina, already a home-schooling hotbed, saw a 14% rise last year in the number of students being educated at home, according to a report from Heartlander Magazine. Similar increases have been seen in Virginia, California and New York, according to education activists.  “If you look at national, and even state polls, you can see that the more familiar people become with Common Core, the more they dislike it,” says Bob Lubke, a senior policy analyst for the North Carolina-based Civitas Institute, told FoxNews.com.  “They feel like they are losing control of what their kids are learning.”

 

Be that as it may, North Carolina’s state government is brushing away concerns that the state’s enrollment rates are plummeting.  “We have experienced a statewide increase in enrollment over the past few years,” Vanessa Jeter, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, told FoxNews.com.  “Since 2012-13, our statewide enrollment has increased by 27,512 students.”

 

In other words, the rise in home-schooling practices is, at least for now, having a negligible impact on enrollment rates.  Nonetheless, there is no denying that home-schooling has become an increasingly viable option for many families.  And this isn’t just because of Common Core, either. There are many reasons why parents choose to educate their children in the home – greater flexibility, autonomy, and over-sight to name just a few – and therefore it should be a choice left to individuals, not the state.

 

So while it seems evident that Common Core is, in some instances, the final straw for some parents, let’s also not forget that home-schooling has been popular for many, many years.  And thus, one assumes, it will only continue to be, especially as concerns about Common Core grow and become more visible over time.

 

As of yesterday’s decision to adopt a “transgender student athlete policy” by the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), this will result in more parents choosing home-school for their children.  To understand the MSHSL policy, read my previous blog posting of December 3.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel