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Policymakers Should Learn Homeschooling Lessons
Harrisburg, PA-Today, The Commonwealth Foundation released a policy brief on "homeschooling"
and what it can teach us about improving public education in Pennsylvania. The
brief suggests that significant improvements in public education will be made
and sustained by empowering parents, not by spending more scarce tax dollars.
The policy brief, "What Homeschooling Can Teach Us About Improving Public
Education," authored by Michael Geer-a father of five children and president of
the Pennsylvania Family Institute-encourages policymakers seeking to improve
public education to consider four key elements found in homeschooling that are
largely absent in today's public education system.
First, Geer says our schools must seek ways to meet children's diverse needs and
set aside the current one-size-fits-all approach. He writes that his and his
wife's decision to home educate their children was based largely on the premise
"that the typical institutional style of education prevalent in schools today
often has the tendency to dampen or even extinguish the inborn curiosity and
desire to learn that exists in young children."
Second, Geer encourages our schools to "ensure that parental rights and student
privacy are protected and respected and that parents have the ability to shield
their children from elements of society or school that are harmful,
untrustworthy, or contrary to the parents' values."
Third, Geer says our schools "must be sufficiently flexible to allow parents and
students the opportunity to fill in holes and shortcomings in their education
program, and tailor it to fit their needs."
Finally, Geer suggests our schools "remove arbitrary barriers that measure
student achievement by hours or days, keep them in classrooms to boost
per-capita funding, or prevent student advancement based on archaic and outmoded
mileposts."
While implementation of these recommendations do not demand more taxpayer money,
they will require policymakers to return greater control of a child's education
to Pennsylvania parents.
"If policymakers are serious about improving public education, then they will
learn the lessons homeschooling can teach us," says Commonwealth Foundation
President Matthew J. Brouillette. "Instead of merely throwing more taxpayer
money at public education's woes, our elected officials should start working to
replicate the elements proven to be successful in homeschooling."
NOTE: Copies of "What Homeschooling Can Teach Us About Improving Public
Education" are available at
www.CommonwealthFoundation.org/education/pb02-05.pdf or by calling
717.671.1901.
The Commonwealth Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, public policy research
and educational institute based in Harrisburg,
Pa. For more information, visit
www.CommonwealthFoundation.org.
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