Education is a likely November election topic. Parents have had enough of public education and the teachers’ unions that control it, as evidenced by the declining test results and rising levels of brainwashing. Over the last few years, homeschooling has increased. Parents are looking for alternatives to public education. However, a widely read article now advocates for imposing government rules on homeschoolers—exactly the thing that homeschoolers are attempting to avoid. Is it, however, really a covert attempt at something else unrelated to education?
“Scientific American” Magazine proposed federal rules for homeschooling in a June 17 newsletter, using data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Approximately 1.5 million children, or nearly 3% of all students in the United States, get their education at home, according to NCES data. The most unsettling aspect of Scientific American’s proposal, however, is not the call for federal regulations—the best part is that it also recommends that parents of homeschooled children “undergo a background check.” First, just a quick question: What is this connection to “science”?
The newsletter continues by acknowledging that homeschooled students do achieve success. Homeschooled students also typically perform higher on SAT and ACT tests, with test scores routinely 15–20 percentile points higher than those of their peers in public schooling. But “most states don’t require the same examination of homeschooled pupils as is necessary for their public school peers,” as Scientific American notes. However, it appears that the primary concern for Scientific American is the educational attainment of the parents, and the magazine even resorts to scare tactics when it states:
Most places don’t even verify that children are receiving any education at all, and parents aren’t required to hold degrees to oversee instruction. In extreme circumstances, homeschooling may conceal abuse.
Here, Scientific American stated that federal regulations were necessary, stating that “homeschooling should be subject to some basic federal mandates.” They then proceeded to quote the newsletter’s creepiest passage, “Homeschool parents should be required to undergo a background check—the same as K-12 teachers,” seemingly drawing a comparison between homeschooling parents and K–12 teachers. Scientific American went on:
In order to prove that their kids are learning, homeschool instructors may also need to present documentation to a state agency or their local school district annually. Education is a fundamental right. We must ensure that children have the opportunity to explore their curiosities and learn science, literature, and history.
Nothing could be further from the truth than the editors of Scientific American telling us it’s all “for the children,” while they channel their inner Nancy Pelosi. Historically, conservative parents have chosen to homeschool their kids. Scientific American’s audience is aware that 46% of respondents to a September 2023 Washington Post/George Mason University survey said they homeschool their children because liberal beliefs “impact local schools too much.” Why not make all conservatives submit to a background check in order to build up a thorough database and track their movements precisely? What kind of data would a background check need to provide? Political inclinations, gun ownership? We already have a decent notion of what the Biden administration would do if it had access to a conservative database; just consider January 6.
Apparently, the Biden administration would support controlling what parents teach their children in the privacy of their own homes. This would be especially true if the regulation included a background check on the parents. Those same people want to decide what kind of car you drive, what kind of stove you have, and how much water you can use in your dishwasher and washing machine.
For various reasons, including the Los Angeles Unified School District’s planned “Rainbow Club” to teach children as young as five about LGBTQ issues in 2023 and the widespread availability of what parents claim to be pornographic material to students, adults are removing their children from public schools. The demand for federal laws and background checks is entirely focused on indoctrinating as many American pupils as possible into left-wing ideology rather than evaluating whether or not parents are “qualified” to teach their children.
Author: Blake Ambrose
