As a homeschool father, I am weary of fielding the same old questions by those who don’t understand my educational choice.  Sometimes I feel like carrying signs that read, “Yes, one of us has an education degree” (and no that is neither required, nor is it necessarily beneficial).  “No, we don’t worry about our kids being able to get into college” (many colleges actually prefer and recruit homeschoolers).  And if I hear one more person ask me about socialization I just may throw up!  Virtually all of these harmless questions come from other Christians.  However, there is a new line of argumentation coming from outside the Christian community that is especially sinister.

PLAYING THE WEALTH CARD

    These new opponents argue that home education is merely an attempt by wealthy white parents to segregate their children from minorities.  In a piece that opponents will undoubtedly see as support for this myth (and already have according to the comments), USA Today cited federal research that reportedly showed, “Parents who home-school children increasingly are white, wealthy and well-educated...”  Even the title of the report, “Profound shift in kind of families who are home schooling their children,” is somewhat deceptive.  The report offers little or no proof of the “profound shift,” and at times actually offers evidence that is anything but profound.

    For instance, as evidence of the “wealth” of these families, the report states, “Home schooling has grown most sharply for higher-income families” (emphasis added).  The author bases this assertion on the fact that, “In 1999, 63.6% of home-schooling families earned less than $50,000. Now 60.0% earn more than $50,000.”  What the report doesn’t tell you is that their definition of “higher-income” is a complete farce.  According to the  Census Bureau, median income in 2008 was $50,233 (the mean was over $67,000 the year before).  In other words, sixty percent of homeschool families are at median income level (and well below the mean).  I’m no mathematician (remember, I’m a product of government schools), but I’m pretty sure that there is a big difference between ‘median’ income and “higher-income”. 

    Moreover, the story ignores two crucial facts.  First, the story completely glosses over the fact that median income in 1999 was only $38,885.  Thus, it stands to reason that the number of people making over $50,000 a year would be higher in 2009.  This is merely a reflection of increasing wealth overall, not a shift in socioeconomic status.  The author could well have said “Americans are increasingly wealthy” based on the same statistics!  This has nothing to do with home educators coming from a wealthier class than they did ten years ago.

    Second, the story ignores the fact that income levels of homeschool families (unlike private school families) mirrors the income levels of government school families.  In a 2008 report ironically titled, “As Popularity of Home Schooling Grows, Greater Numbers and More Diversity among Families Choosing Option”, the Hoover Institution found:

Among both homeschooling families and public school families, about 26 percent have an income of $25,000 or less; less than 10 percent of private school families come from the same income bracket. On the other end of the spectrum, less than 22 percent of homeschooling families and slightly more than 25 percent of public school families have an income of more than $75,000, compared to 50 percent of private school families.

That’s right, there is a slightly higher percentage of “higher-income” families in government schools (25 percent), and a significantly higher percentage in private schools (50 percent) than among home educators (22 percent).  Moreover, home education offers an open door to lower income families that practically does not exist in the private school sector.  In other words (surprise, surprise), USA Today is slanting the story!  Their piece paints a picture of filthy rich families teaching their children at home simply because they have the financial wherewithal to do so, while the “wealthy” families are in fact more prevalent in government and private school ranks.     

    Interestingly, since the “poverty” level is $25,790 for a family of five (the average size of a homeschool family), a quarter of all homeschool families (according to Hoover) are living at or below the poverty line.  While most ‘real’ poor people in the world (over three billion people live on less than $2.50 per day, while 80% of the world’s population lives on less than $10 a day) couldn’t dream of having such wealth, this is how we define ‘poverty’ in the United States.  Nevertheless, these people are not ‘wealthy’ by American standards.  They are definitely not “higher-income” families.  Home education gives “poor” families a real chance at a better education for their children.  Unfortunately, the USA Today piece leaves this fact out of the story completely. 

PLAYING THE RACE CARD

    The more sinister aspect of the USA Today piece is the injection of ethnicity into the story.  Admittedly, the story does not offer a reason for the increase in home education among white families.  However, one has to ask, “Why does it matter?”  Why does everything have to be reduced to questions of ethnicity?  Unfortunately, injecting ethnicity into the story has the inevitable effect of raising questions about prejudice and intentional segregation.  Those who have kept up with my blog will remember the discussion about Gramscian Marxism and its reduction of all things to questions of race and gender (and redistribution of wealth).  This is just another example of the philosophical foundation upon-which our culture’s worldview is based.  The USA Today piece is no exception.  The unwritten rule is ‘everything is about race’.

    The piece argues that home educators are “increasingly white...” However, there is no evidence to that effect in the story.  The piece does not even allude to the number of minorities involved in home education.  The author simply makes the provocative statement, then moves on.  It is true that home education has increased among white families (from two percent of white families in 1999 to nearly four percent in 2009).  However, this does not mean that the movement itself is increasingly white.  In fact, “Among minorities, home schooling increased by 20 percent to over a quarter of a million students” from 1999-2003, and has continued to be the fastest growing segment of home educators (Education Next, 2008, also see NHERI).  Thus, while this rising tide is raising all ships, the USA Today piece chose to point out one ship as though it were rising alone.  Again, there are no reasons given in the story, but the mere mention leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  Especially when I read the comments posted by readers who obviously presuppose the racist slant.

There is a real story here.  Unfortunately, USA Today chose to cover something else entirely.

VB