Should Regulations for Home Schools be Changed - Essay Example

? Regulation of Homeschooling Section/# One of the primary problems with a society that places a high degree of regulation on education and scholastic achievement is the level to which independent means of education are allowed, licensed, and operated. This of course relates to a host of entities; private educational facilities as well as homeschoolers are among some of the affected groups. For purposes of this brief analysis, the author will seek to discuss some of the primary issues and problems relating to whether or not existing federal regulations regarding home school are sufficient and/or should be changed. It may come as a surprise to most, however, that there are no federal regulations that govern the practice of homeschooling. However, the same cannot be said for the existence of state regulations that govern the practice. Depending on the state in question, state regulations vary greatly and can portend a complete freedom to home school as one may wish, or heavy requirements regarding yearly testing and paperwork standards that must be fulfilled for both pupil and teacher. This intrinsic lack of federal standards to provide a level of uniformity in education within the field of homeschooling necessarily means that there is a wide differential in respect of the quality of education that many of the different homeschoolers receive. The author will herein examine a few of the major drawbacks that this lack of regulation necessarily portends, and will seek to draw a conclusion based upon these drawbacks as to whether a higher degree of regulation would be beneficial to the level of educational exhibited within the system. Firstly, when one considers the fact that no federal regulations govern the practice of homeschooling, one can quickly infer that the freedom to educate as one wishes is ultimately up to the end stakeholder within the home school environment. Although this is not necessarily in and of itself a bad thing, it does present a unique dynamic which one should consider. For instance, as opposed to public schools, a litany of metrics, milestones, and testing occurs on an annual basis (and many times more often than this) as a means to ensure that all of the benchmarks set by the Federal and State Departments of Education are being met (Dumas et al., 2010). These tests have the purpose of not only ensuring that the guidelines laid out by the appropriate authorities are being met but also the secondary intent of being able to measure unique and dynamic changes in the student body at the regional and state levels. Due to the fact that no such analysis of homeschoolers is performed at the federal level and no benchmarks are set or analyzed, there is practically no knowledge of how this group effects the overall realization of educational development and achievement within the United States. Although many might argue that there is no need for government to interfere with this process due to the fact that it would be more regulation of otherwise private lives, one can also view the alternative argument relating to the fact that the government of the United States is not only responsible for educational development and achievement for its population but also for the development of a skilled and well balanced workforce to meet the key market needs that the 21st century provides (Kunzman, 2009). In this way, one can quickly realize that although certain topics such as reading, literature, and mathematics may be taught by a well skilled and educated parent or care-taker, the fact of the matter is that upper level biology, math, and/or lab sciences require resources and facilities that are not available to the average homeschooler. This creates a fundamental problem. Due to the fact that these lab sciences and upper level studies are not able to be taught by the average home school teacher, they risk being glossed over or not taught at all. This further complicates the educational process due to the fact that there are no preparatory life sciences that can adequately be taught within the home school environment. Naturally, if one takes the path that there should be a higher degree of federal regulation of home schooling, there is the problem of the fact that this level of regulation necessarily impedes many rights and privileges of the private citizen. Although the result may be a net positive, the fact of the matter is that the level of infringements on the personal rights and privileges to the private citizen would be multiple. Moreover, the final issue which this analysis will discuss is perhaps something that is the greatest overall concern with respect to the current economic climate that the nation is faced with. As such, if one is still of the opinion that an increasing level of federal mandates should regulate the practice and availability of home schooling within the framework of the United States educational system, they should thoroughly consider the economic costs of what such regulation would necessarily portend (Waddell, 2010). One needs not look further than any one of the federal regulatory programs that exist, to realize the sheer size and cost that regulatory departments necessarily incur. This fact in and of itself is not enough to stymie implementation of such an additional level of federal regulation; however, given the current economic malaise that the country finds itself within, it is difficult to justify the expense for what can only be described as a limited problem. Due to the fact that less than 1% of all school aged children in the United States are currently home schooled, the true scope of the issue may very well not be large enough to warrant government regulation at this point. From the preceding analysis that has been conducted, and the key concerns which have been listed and discussed, one can see that a powerful argument exists for the regulation of home schooling as a means to ensure that a high quality of educational attainment is made available to each and every child within the United States. However, due to the key concerns over civil rights and the cost of pursuing such a path, it is the opinion of this author that the situation is small enough at this point to warrant the reaction of a federal authority charged with overseeing and regulating the practice. References Dumas, T. K., Gates, S., & Schwarzer, D. R. (2010). Evidence for homeschooling: Constitutional analysis in light of social science research. Widener Law Review, 16(1), 63-87. Kunzman, R. (2009). Understanding homeschooling: A better approach to regulation. Theory and Research In Education, 7(3), 311-330. Waddell, T. (2010). Bringing it all back home: Establishing a coherent constitutional framework for the re-regulation of homeschooling. Vanderbilt Law Review, 63(2), 541-597. Read More