Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming believes in the family. If you wonder what it means to “believe in families” you would not be alone. Most people think, “Everyone believes in families, right?” Well. Not so much.
In June, a summit was scheduled Harvard Law School’s Child Advocacy Program and was organized around the topic Homeschooling Summit: Problems, Politics, and Prospects for Reform.
To understand the “problems” to be discussed, one only need to look to the article submitted to the Arizona Law Review by Professor Elizabeth Bartholet the faculty director of Harvard Law School’s Child Advocacy Program. In the article, Professor Bartholet recommends a “presumptive ban” on homeschooling. Her reasoning is found in the description of the article where it states, “Many homeschool because they want to isolate their children from ideas and values central to our democracy, determined to keep their children from exposure to views that might enable autonomous choice about their future lives. Many promote racial segregation and female subservience. Many question science. Abusive parents can keep their children at home free from the risk that teachers will report them to child protection services.”
In summary, the main complaint is that morally based education is abuse. With little evidence and in spite of overwhelming success stories, the article states, “Child abuse and neglect characterize a significant subset of homeschooling families.”
After rounding out this vitriol, the article closes by attacking private schools claiming they lack regulation and indoctrinate children. The irony is that many parents who place their children in Christian schools do so precisely because of growing concerns with the radical leftist indoctrination their children were exposed to in the public-school system. Professor Bartholet must have forgotten every parent has the fundamental right to provide their child with an education that respect their religious and moral beliefs.
Standing for families means standing for family values in education. Moms and dads know their children best and care more for their intellectual growth than anyone else on earth. That’s why parents are best at tailoring their child’s educational opportunities to meet their child’s unique needs. To claim the alternative is to claim that large governmental bureaucracies will always do it better. But the facts show America’s public education system is increasingly driven by ideology at the expense of teaching the classic subjects that once made American education a beacon to the world. School choice is proven to improve academic outcomes for our children while also saving taxpayers money. For these reasons it is even more important Wyoming families have the ability to choose excellent educational opportunities for their children to excel.
While homeschools are growing in Wyoming, there is much work to be done to encourage the growth of charter schools and private schools across the state so more families can benefit. Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming® will continue to stand with parents, even if Harvard is against them.
For families,
Nathan Winters
Executive Director
