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Parents as Primary Educators: An American Heritage

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Introduction: Homeschool on “The Farrm”

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Ten-year-old Joshua bounded off the bus, another pink slip in his hand, and greeted me with, “Mom! I’ve figured it out! I found an unused janitor’s closet, and if the principal would allow me to put a desk in there I could do school just fine!” My heart sank as my face tried to retain a smile. “We’re done,” I thought to myself, “my brilliant boy is relegating himself to a closet so he can be successful at school. We are done!”

A product of public education myself, I emerged as an uninspired 3.0 student with middle of the road performance. My children were not so content. Two of my children are savants in their own fields and needed more than public school teachers could ever offer. Of course, we didn’t know that until further along in our schooling, but would we have ever figured out their potential had they remained in public school? I think, definitely not. Joshua would have been expelled for deviant behavior and Noelle would never have realized her incredible musical gifts.

Homeschooling’s biggest gift is time. Time to play piano 8 hours a day, time to read dozens of unabridged classics in one year, time to discuss until there is nothing more to discuss, time to experience successes and failures without public shame. Public schooling does not offer those luxuries, pressures abound to “teach to the test.” Rigid testing standards that must be met in order to prove academic worth were only exacerbated by the governmental experiment, “No Child Left Behind” and tenure for educators oftentimes protects the wrong teachers. The culture of American education must return to one that upholds the parent’s responsibility to be hands-on in their children’s education. Government run schools have usurped the parent’s role.

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My Position: Benefits of Families Educating Children

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The decline in the effectiveness of education in America was caused by the decline in families feeling the responsibility to be involved in the education of their own children.  John Taylor Gatto, in his tome, Underground History of American Education, reminds us that in 1840 complex literacy was enjoyed by 93-100% of the population (104). This was achieved before compulsory education. “Until the incorporation of public school education in the nineteenth century, homeschooling was the predominant method of instruction for children of every economic, social, and cultural stratum (Wichers 8). A study done by the National Center for Education Statistics, shows that even with substantially more money invested in a public education system today, US literacy has fallen to 84% and has remained at that level for two decades (see figure 1) (White iii-iv, 5).

Climbing out of the academic rut America is in must begin with parents taking responsibility for the education of their children. When parents simply voice their expectations that their children attend college, it significantly raises the likelihood that they will attend college, especially among those whose parents did not attend college themselves (Bui and Rush).

Parental involvement in schooling is vital.

Families are responsible to teach, lead, provide example, motivate, encourage, and not abrogate these responsibilities to the state. Today’s public-school teacher is the state raising children. With government mandated Common Core standards dictating what public schools are to teach, the needs of individual children have been significantly diminished. Even through severe criticism, states could receive “administrative waivers” from the No Child Left Behind standards if they adopted Common Core standards, thus taking the responsibility for what children learn farther away from parents (Heise 1868-70). These government programs were created and administrated by entities so far removed from the schools in which they are implemented, that there is no recourse for the teachers and certainly not the parents who may have disagreements. Again, we see responsibility for what children are learning moved far away from the family.

School budgets are at the heart of what animates administrators, therefore, school districts keep tight fisted control over homeschooling families who use state resources. In the state of California for example, homeschoolers can join a charter and receive funds for educational supplies, yet it comes with a price: monthly accountability to an appointed teacher who monitors the academic progress of the children. Robin Broberg, who is currently homeschooling her five children in the state of California explains:

The test situation, unfortunately, is not up to me. It is administered by a teacher. [My son] scored consistently low two months in a row and so they are having him get tutoring. I've asked to see what he misses on the test, but they tell me I'm not allowed because the material is what he should know at his grade level. However, they said the online tutor gets to know what he's missing in order to help him. But I'm his teacher... It's messed up. (Personal Interview)

Educators are now responsible to not only teach reading, writing, science, and math but have almost taken from parents the duty to teach self-discipline, personal hygiene, self-awareness, sexuality, nutrition, social relations, and they excel in the indoctrination of politics, gender identification, anti-religion and other social “norms.” Because public schooling over the course of nearly 200 years has gradually become mainstream in America, parents have lost a force for strengthening the family. We pay someone else, through taxes, or directly to private schools, to teach our children what to think. Teachers are strangers to our own values, hopes, dreams and aspirations for our children. Our culture has not embraced with understanding that parenthood includes the responsibility to personally teach our children.

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Opposing View: Benefits of Public School

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Granted, too many parents today do not have basic knowledge, innate desire, or a lifestyle which makes it possible to teach their children. This is where public education is sorely needed. No Child Left Behind has made big strides in the states that have implemented it completely. Tennessee and Washington, D.C. have experienced positive results from stricter and more regular testing in the subjects of reading and math. Holding teachers directly accountable for better test scores and tying those scores to their salary and ability to retain their tenure has worked for them (Huffman 3). Results are ultimately what parents want from their tax dollars and they will be satisfied if there is a strong centralized system in place. According to an article in Education Digest from December 2017, charter schools and homeschools undermine the success of public schools. Privatizing education only serves to segregate our communities. Charter schools set limits as to who are accepted into their programs, private schools accept only high scoring students and homeschools further isolate students from experiencing different cultures. This leaves poor, under performing schools with fewer funds and little racial diversity (4).

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Response to Opposing View

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The industrial age introduced public schooling and this shift in American culture has taken mothers out of the home and left precious little time or energy for families to teach (Gatto 82). Yet, there is a movement afoot to return the ability to teach children from home and to insure their education is viable and successful. “Initially, concern focused on whether these middle-class, non-teachers could supply adequate instruction for their children in all subject areas to prepare them to face the challenges of an ever-changing, specialized world” (Wichers 3). Concern that hopeful and enthusiastic parents will not know what to teach has changed with the ever-expanding technology available in the home. Today, homeschooler’s resources are nearly limitless (Heise 1894).

Consistent underperformance of public schools is one reason parents are taking education back into their own hands. An estimated 2.3 million children in the US are homeschooled (West 4). That is nearly a 62% increase from 2003-2012 (Heise 1887).  The popular acceptance of homeschooling is growing not only in students’ acceptance into institutions of higher education, but among the general public as well. Almost half of Americans support homeschooling with the caveat that they stay visible to local districts and not fall off the radar (Wichers 3). We do want a nation with an educated population. But as colleges and universities are recognizing, homeschoolers enter higher education with comparable skills and abilities to those coming from public and private education settings (Wichers 3).

A stark difference between public schools and charters is the number of students for which each has responsibility. The bloated bureaucracy of public school districts has in their charge four hundred thousand students in Chicago, seven hundred thousand in Los Angeles, and in New York City, more than a million. Contrast that with the plan of charter schools which are run by families and communities with maybe a dozen board members. This tight knit system keeps the needs and funds and curriculum in the control of the families that are served (Finn 1). A shift in the balance of power from government back to the family is what is at stake for public school administrators. “What's really in dispute: power and control over a K-12 education behemoth that spends more than $600 billion a year and employs some six million adults” (Finn 2).

Notice that there isn’t an argument as to if homeschooling produces adequate education for students. In fact, homeschools offer more one-on-one instruction which enables better assimilation of facts and information and even application of the data learned. Even when compared with their counterparts in higher education settings, homeschool students are just as studious as those who came out of public school into colleges and universities (Wichers 8).

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Conclusion: A Call to Action

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No longer need there be fear of treading on untested ground. Unconventional education methods have had their trial by fire and have come out bright and strong. More parents who have their own advanced degrees are now among those homeschooling their children and they are making great progress (Heise 1869). English majors are uniquely qualified to explore this topic and make a difference in the educational system in America because they have studied the methods of critical thinking, analysis, and examples in literature of the history and process of learning from many different sources and perspectives. We learn from fiction and non-fiction about how diverse students learn, process, react to, and excel in their educational pursuits. Having obtained education based on the fundamentals of reading and writing, and knowing these most vital tools of learning intimately, we can use this knowledge to continue an effective dialog to develop an implementable transition of education back to the family.

“What has been clearly unspoken, yet undeniably evident by homeschooled parents, has been the staunch support, commitment and belief in their children's abilities to achieve. This has resulted in a reciprocal effect … that children fulfilled expectations because of their supportive environment” (Wichers 3). Homeschooling parents don't know what we don't know about how to educate our children until later in their lives when we see the results. But neither do public school teachers know what the results in their students will be, and you know what - they don't care. They don't get to see the majority of their students later in life and if they succeed or not. Only parents do.

 

Works Cited

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Broberg, Robin. Personal Interview. 10 February, 2018.

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Bui, Khanh, and Ryan A. Rush. "Parental involvement in middle school predicting college attendance for first-generation students." Education, vol. 136, no. 4, 2016, p. 473+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A458839046/OVIC?u=byuidaho&xid=834082ad. Accessed 9 Feb. 2018.

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Finn, Chester E., Jr., et al. "The schools we deserve: old-style local control of public schools is fading--except, that is, in charter schools." Hoover Digest, no. 1, 2017, p. 146+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A509994608/OVIC?u=byuidaho&xid=854d1bdd. Accessed 9 Feb. 2018.

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Gatto, John T. The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher's Intimate Investigation into the Problem of Modern Schooling. New York: Oxford Village Press, 2001. Print.

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Heise, Michael. “From No Child Left Behind to Every Student Succeeds: Back to a Future for Education Federalism.” Columbia Law Review, vol. 117, no. 7, 2017, pp. 1859–1896. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44425412. Accessed 9 Feb. 2018.  

                 

Huffman, Kevin. "If parents push for it, accountability can work." Education Next, vol. 17, no. 3, 2017, p. 51+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A503266380/OVIC?u=byuidaho&xid=01f15697. Accessed 9 Feb. 2018.

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"Our Children Deserve Better: A Call to Resist Washington's Dangerous Vision for U.S.        Education." Education Digest, vol. 86, no. 4, Dec. 2017, p. 4. EBSCOhost, byui.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.byui.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=125896861&site=eds-live.

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West, Martin R., et al. "The 2017 EdNext Poll On School Reform: Public Thinking On School Choice, Common Core, Higher Ed, And More." Education Next, vol. 18, no. 1, 2018, p. 32+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A520581890/OVIC?u=byuidaho&xid=c9333805. Accessed 9 Feb. 2018.

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White, Sheida, et al. The Occurrence of Low Literacy among Adults in U.S. States and Counties. Research and Development Report. NCES 2010. National Center for Education Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, 01 Jan. 2010. EBSCOhost, byui.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.byui.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED554352&site=eds-live.

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Wichers, Michelle. "Homeschooling: adventitious or detrimental for proficiency in higher education." Education, vol. 122, no. 1, 2001, p. 145+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A80856271/OVIC?u=byuidaho&xid=427c9dfc. Accessed 9 Feb. 2018.