Homeschooling and National School Choice Week

Although homeschooling has long been a parent’s choice in education, January 23, 2011 marks the beginning of the first ever National School Choice Week in America.

If you are considering homeschooling, you have likely experienced the realities of our failing public school systems.

Over the last 30 years, we’ve doubled the amount of money spent per pupil, with little to no improvement in performance.  Yet, reports on homeschooling indicate a steady climb in numbers and the success of homeschooling students.

However the statistics on our public education system are alarming:

• Seventy percent of eighth graders can’t read at grade level.
• Thirty percent of high school freshmen fail to graduate.
• 1 in 20 US adults are illiterate
• Half of those who attend college need remedial courses before they are ready to handle college level academics.
• When it comes to academics, United States ranks:
  • 25^th out of 30 nations in math
  • 24^th in science and
  • Dead last in physics.

The statistics go on and on and paint a dire picture of the state of public education in the United States.  And a failing education system is just the precursor to a failing future for this great nation.  That is why many parents are taking control and homeschooling their children.

It is also for this reason that organizations and parents from all across the country are joining together during National School Choice Week to raise awareness about the failing school systems.  To raise awareness about the need for parents to have a choice for their children when it comes to education. And to raise awareness that the only way our children are going to receive a quality education is if all families are allowed to choose the school option that best meets their needs.

“National School Choice Week will offer an opportunity for everyone who supports real reform — whether it be in the form of charter school growth, scholarships, tuition tax credits, virtual schooling, or homeschooling — to unite under one banner and demand real and lasting change in K-12 education,” said Kyle Olson, the celebration’s executive director.  Because the reality is that “subpar schools are jeopardizing the future of all Americans. A great nation requires great schools, and right now we don’t have enough of them.”

As homeschoolers, we have taken advantage of school choice in America.  We have taken the reins for our children’s education and we are already taking seriously what Pam Sult, a proponent of school choice in Michigan exhorts parents to remember . . .  “This is our kids’ education – we get one shot at it. You can’t redo it. They get what they get, and it needs to be good.”

Statistically, homeschoolers are among the few who have chosen to take control of their child’s education.  As Pam Sult said so eloquently, “When the going gets tough, it’s only a handful of people who get up and do something,” she says.  “If something’s going to get done, I have to do something. . . .You are your child’s advocate.”

So keep up the great work.  And don’t let anyone convince you that a system with the kind of statistics listed above is a better choice for your child.  Only you can make that decision.

In honor of National School Choice Week, Bridgeway Homeschool Academy is hosting the webinar, The Five Most Dangerous Trends in Education.

The webinar is filled with alarming statistics on the failure of our education system, the resulting decline in the American family, and the financial impact that a failing education system has on the individual and on society as a whole. Attendees will also learn little-known facts surrounding the founding of public education in this country and why homeschooling is an excellent choice for many families.

Click here to register.

We look forward to discussing these issues as well as the reasons for the success of homeschooling all across America.