'Science' mag admits homeschooling works, but demands federal oversight
A so-called "science' magazine has turned itself into an expert on education, admitting that homeschooling works, but demanding federal oversight, and rules, for parents who teach their own children.
A report from Breitbart identified the magazine as "Scientific American," a publication that often takes left-leaning positions.
It now is not only calling for federal rules for homeschooling, but even "background" checks for parents.
The magazine's agenda came in a recent newsletter in which it cited information from the National Center for Education Statistics, which confirmed 1.5 million American children were homeschooled during the 2019 time period.
Homeschooling activity actually is surging across the U.S.
"The newsletter admits that homeschooled children have excelled, going on to win national spelling bees, even pointing to famed Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, who was homeschooled by his mother," the report said.
But the magazine complained "most states don’t require the same assessment of homeschooled kids that are required for their public school peers. Parents are not required to have an education themselves to direct instruction, and in most states, no one checks to see that children are receiving an education at all. In the worst cases, homeschooling can hide abuse."
The commentary said, "homeschool parents should be required to undergo a background check — the same as K-12 teachers."
And, the magazine insisted, "Homeschool instructors could be required to submit documents every year to their local school district or to a state agency to show that their children are learning."
The report noted actually NCES documents that most homeschooling is done to battle "toxic school environments and a lack of moral instruction."
It explained, "Eighty percent of homeschoolers said they homeschool because they have a concern about school environment (which could include safety, drugs, negative peer pressure, or other issues), 75 percent said they desire to provide moral instruction, another 75 percent said they want to put an emphasis on family life together, and 59 percent said they have a desire to provide religious instruction. Further, nearly three quarters, 73 percent, said they homeschool because they have a dissatisfaction with the academic instruction at other schools. To further demonstrate that point, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress testing found that just 32 percent of fourth graders read at or above proficiency for their grade level in 2022."
Public schools across America today, in fact, are facing a multitude of fights with parents as leftists embedded in staff and faculty impose leftist ideologies of "diversity, equity, inclusion," as well as Black Lives Matter, LGBT and "environmental justice." In extreme cases, some schools allow teachers to encourage students to declare they are transgender, and then conceal such influences from parents.
"In 2023, for example, the Los Angeles Unified School District hosted a 'Rainbow Club,' to teach kids as young as five years old about LGBT-related topics, and there has been controversy nationwide about what some describe as 'pornographic' books in schools,," the report noted.
HeadlineUSA characterized the magazine's demands as declaring "war" on homeschooling.
It explained, "To solve the non-existent problem, the leftists who work at the magazine said that 'homeschooling should be subject to some basic federal mandates'" and those background checks should be mandatory.
The Washington Examiner described the magazine as "left-leaning legacy" publication, and said, "While the implication of what the Scientific American editors advocated appears to be government control over homeschool curriculums and practices, one of the most oft-cited reasons families decide to homeschool is to get their children out of government-run schools."
WND previously reported when Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Bartholet complained publicly about, "The Risks of Homeschooling."
She has claimed that homeschooling deprives children of their right to a "meaningful education."
She explained, it is "important that children grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other people's viewpoints."
PJ Media, at the time, commented: "In other words, she knows that homeschooled children are being taught to think for themselves, and she won't stand for it."
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