With a new school year looming, public schools will be brimming with students. The National Center for Education Statistics estimated last fall more than 50 million students would attend public school. Yet the topic of education seems as controversial these days as any other politically-riddled issue. Math and science scores continue to lag behind other countries and as the transgender agenda continues to infiltrate schools, more families will look for school options elsewhere.
When my oldest son was heading into kindergarten, I began to review public schools in terms of academic rigor. Although we lived in an area where the public school students score better than in other parts of the country, the statistics were still disheartening. To top it off, he was a classic, active boy; I feared he would be given an inaccurate label and his “boyness” discouraged, rather than praised.
As many public schools have now abandoned recess altogether, schools expect kids to learn by sitting for hours at a time, filling out worksheets. As Sir Ken Robinson said in his famous TED talk, this kills creativity and most boys need more active, hands-on learning.
So we began kindergarten at home.
In an interview last week with the Associated Press, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos hinted at the dissatisfaction many public school families have experienced that often pushes them to look elsewhere for education options.
“I know there are many schools that do a great job for the students they serve. And at the same time I know that even the best public school might not be a great fit for every single child and we need to recognize and acknowledge that. But we also need to encourage schools, public schools that are doing a great job to not rest on their laurels but to continue to improve because unless you’re constantly oriented around continuous improvement and excellence we know that there’s going to be reversion to something less than that.”
Of course many public schools are keenly aware of where they fail. They are trying to improve: Louisiana’s new education plan just received federal approval. No doubt administrations and teachers in school districts nationwide are doing the best they can, still they face an uphill climb. The state often spends more than $10,000 per student, yet classes are jammed, teachers are overworked, and aspects of Common Core, such as math, seem as confusing as ever.
To add to this, controversial social issues are ever-increasing. Transgender students are “coming out” in school and demanding use of the bathrooms–this eight-year-old transgender student sued her private school for not letting her “be who she is.” Not every family can consider other educational options, but until the public school system as a whole can get back on track, it’s okay for parents and students to do so, when possible.
In her interview, DeVos encouraged school choice as well.
“I think there is an opportunity for the federal government to set a tone and I’m working to continue to do so every opportunity I have to talk about this to encourage states to look at programs within their states to consider the president’s, the president has talked repeatedly about empowering parents with more choices and we are collectively discussing the best way to implement something like that, to encourage that from the federal level without enacting a big new federal program that’s going to require a lot of administration.”
Private schools are pricey, so more and more parents are turning to charter schools and home education. In fact, the latter has increased seven times more than annual public school enrollment. It’s not for every student, nor can every parent facilitate home studies, but it is a worthwhile option that both counters the cost of private schools, while ensuring a more rigorous education, free from some of the new social propaganda public schools seem to support.
Now, five years later, I still homeschool my son, entering fifth grade; my daughter, now entering third grade; and my third-born, now entering first grade.
I’m not going to lie: It’s not all rainbows and butterflies. Homeschooling, working, and running the kids to their extracurricular activities on top of everything else is hard, time-consuming, and requires patience and commitment. My oldest struggled to read and needed vision therapy; my second-born requires speech therapy; and my third child, an introvert, probably wishes she lived in a quieter house.
That said, every year the kids show they’re getting a quality education (we teach the classical method) and are just as socially adaptable as any other child their age. They score high on their end-of-year tests and have learned to press toward their strengths and continue to work on their weaknesses. They’re involved in multiple co-ops so they’ve acquired more friends than we can see in a given week (much to their dismay) and they live in an area where they can memorize historical facts one day, and go see the U.S. Capitol building the next.
Home education does not work for every family or child. But if parents wish their children had a better education than what they’re experiencing at public school, and private school is financially off-limits, it might be worthwhile to consider homeschooling.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She was the 2010 recipient of the American Spectator’s Young Journalist Award.
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