There has long been a belief in the homeschool community that you should never accept government funds of any kind. The thinking was that if you are willing to accept government funds, you open your doors to government intrusion.
It was essentially a “we won’t bother you if you don’t bother us” mentality.
And as the dad in a homeschooling family, I get that mentality. While my wife does the hard work in terms of curriculum, planning and teaching, we enjoy the freedoms that homeschooling has provided. The most important is the freedom to educate our children how we see fit.
But if we lived in a school zone eligible for the Promise Scholarship, we would apply for our son who will be 5 years old and entering kindergarten next fall.
As the law was written, the government does not have the right to impede on how you educate your children. In fact, the text of the law goes out of the way to emphasize the flexibility and control parents retain over educational decisions.
There are some basic requirements to participate in the program. For example, parents must sign an agreement to “provide an education for the student in at least the subjects of reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies, and science.” That language is similar to current homeschool requirements for Georgia students. But beyond this simple standard, parents are given freedom over how these subjects are taught.
Overall, the program’s goal is to fund students while maintaining parental authority over how and what their children learn. There is no specific language in the bill that restricts or mandates the inclusion of religious or political views, thus safeguarding parents’ rights to include or omit such content if they choose.
In the case of schools, the law states that it “shall not require a participating school or service provider to alter such school’s or provider’s creed, practices, admission policies, employment policies, or curricula.” Homeschoolers can expect the same degree of freedom.
The program requires participating students to take annual testing to help determine academic progress, specifically in math and language arts. At least three norm-referenced tests will be approved for this objective – and already, 13 tests from 10 different providers have been authorized. Currently, Georgia homeschoolers are required to test every three years, beginning in third grade. So it’s a slight lift, but nothing outside the norm of what homeschooling families in Georgia currently experience.
One could argue that an overzealous regulator could take things too far. Not that it excuses it, but we see that occurring regularly throughout the country when it comes to homeschoolers. And the massive uptick in homeschoolers since the pandemic has likely only increased attention.
According to data from the Washington Post, homeschooling is the fastest growing educational sector in the country, and it’s not even close. Dating back to 2017, the nation saw a 51% rise in the number of homeschoolers. For comparison, during that same time, there was a 7% rise in the number of private school students and a 4% decrease in the number of public school students.
The dramatic increase in homeschool students, especially relative to private school enrollment, is telling of how the perception of the traditional school model is changing. Typically when pundits and lawmakers talk about how the environment of education is changing, they refer (with either positive or negative connotations) to how students and money are flowing from public to private schools. However, the attraction to homeschooling that those figures indicate shows an even starker rejection of the traditional school model. For parents who are making these new choices, it is not about one system or another, nor about “Friday night lights,” but about what is best for their child.
We know most of these changes, at least for homeschoolers, have taken place over the past four years, following the pandemic. We also know how different “homeschooling” looks these days. Is a family that sends their children to a private program two days a week and then educates at home the rest of the week homeschooling, or sending their kids to private school?
As we used to say on Facebook, it’s complicated.
But for the families interested in such education or currently participating, it’s not. It’s choosing to do what is best for their children. Even if it doesn’t fit the traditional mold.
As the Georgia Promise Scholarship is rolled out, and as parental interest in a smaller, individual school setting only grows, look for those new school models to play an ever growing role in the educational landscape. And look for the Promise Scholarship to help families making the switch, if you want.
But please don’t demonize families that receive the Promise Scholarship to homeschool. And don’t view it as a threat to your current homeschooling.
