Candidates weigh in on home schooling

September 12, 2000

Even though education dominates the discussions of Vice President Al
Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush as they continue along that winding
and bumpy campaign trail, one aspect of education has remained virtually
unaddressed: home schooling.

The

Democratic National Committee, which hosts the party’s national convention every four years and plays a major funding role in presidential candidate campaigns, is now attacking Bush for the Texas governor’s support of home-schooling families.

Pointing to reported statements by Bush on home schooling, the

DNC’s website states: “Bush has repeatedly called for more accountability in public schools, but has made no effort to apply those standards to home-schooled children. In Texas, Bush has supported home schooling, despite the fact that Texas mandates no regulations on attendance or achievement standards for home-schooled students and requires no certification for home-school teachers.”

Texas requires children to attend school from ages six to 17. There are no reporting requirements for families that choose to home school, however, making mandatory attendance laws unenforceable outside the public school system. Parents are not required to inform the state of their decision to home school and are not legally compelled to keep records or have their children tested. Neither must the parents meet any sort of government requirements in order to educate their own children.

By contrast, states such as California require parents to file an affidavit indicating their intention to home school, keep attendance records and be considered by the government as “capable of teaching.”

While the DNC charges Texas with being “lenient” on home-schoolers, the state’s governor appears to view the issue as one of parents’ rights. Although the Bush campaign did not return repeated calls for comment, his record as governor demonstrates clear support for home-schooling families.

In 1994, Bush declared a week in May as “Home Education Week” to recognize the dedication and achievement of families independently schooling their children.

“Home schooling provides many children the opportunity to learn within the framework of family beliefs and values,” Bush said in his 1994 statement announcing Home Education Week.

Additionally, the governor has been an outspoken advocate for school choice, allowing parents to remove their children from public schools while taking a portion of their tax money funding the education system with them.

Laws governing home schooling are found at the state level. In May, however,

President Bill Clinton expressed his interest in having the
government “organize” home schoolers.

“I think that states should explicitly acknowledge the option of home schooling, because it’s going to be done anyway,” Clinton said in an online chat concluding his two-day “school reform tour.” “It is done in every state of the country and therefore the best thing to do is to get the home schoolers organized,” he said.

Home-schooled students should be required to meet certain benchmarks, the president wrote. “And if they don’t prove that they’re learning, then they have to go into a school — either into a parochial or private school or a public school.”

Distancing his candidate from the DNC’s incendiary rhetoric against home schooling, Dagoberto Vega, spokesman for the

Gore-Lieberman
campaign said yesterday that “Al Gore has always felt that parents are their children’s most important teachers. He also believes the federal government should not impair a parent’s decision to school their children at home. However, Gore feels that the federal role in education should focus on ensuring that every child in America’s public schools is educated at the highest level.”

The DNC statement, and that of Gore’s spokesman come at a time when home schoolers around the country are being faced with an increasing number of truancy accusations, and parents find themselves becoming legal experts on their right to educate children at home without government interference.

Vega stressed Gore’s commitment to the government’s school system.

“Managing a strong, successful public school system reflects upon our commitment to all children,” Vega said. “It is also a key factor in the continued economic success of our nation. That’s why Al Gore believes that we have a responsibility to our future to continue improving America’s public schools.”

Vega also noted that the vice president’s position on home schooling “stays the same” in the face of ideological opposition on the part, not only of the Democratic National Committee, but especially the powerful

National Education Association.

The

NEA’s official position is that “home-schooling programs cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience,” according to a union resolution. Additionally, the union believes “home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used.”

Gore “hasn’t proposed any federal regulation of home schooling,” Vega said.

The NEA was represented at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles by delegates “approximating the number of delegates for the entire state of California,” noted Mark Levine, president of

Landmark
Legal Foundation. There were 433 California delegates at the Staples Center last month.

At the 1996 national convention, NEA members occupied 405 of the delegate positions, and in 1992, one in eight Democrat delegates pledged allegiance to the union.