Is It True That "Not Everyone Can Homeschool"?

I oppose government (taxpayer) funded school choice initiatives because they have a significant potential to rollback freedoms that pioneer home educators fought and sacrificed to win. When I express this position, I am often accused of having a selfish desire to sustain my freedoms at the expense of others’ ability to have their freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Let me be clear. I do not wish others less choice. My desire is to encourage others to take advantage of the choice they already have without sacrificing freedoms. This is usually met with the claim, “But not everyone can homeschool,” and every time I have heard this statement, it comes from those who have not home educated any children. Rather, is spoken presumptively about the supermajority of families who chose to send their children to institutionalized schooling as if it were a generally accepted truth. ?

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Although I believe there is a reasoned argument against this presupposition that applies to all families (read “Anyone Can Homeschool” by Nicki Truesdell), I would like to address this strictly from a Christian worldview perspective. To accept the statement “Not everyone can homeschool” as an axiom, a believer must disavow the Scriptural admonitions to parents vis-à-vis the education of their children. Parents are commanded to bring up their children in the nurture (teaching) and admonition (discipline) of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4) and to teach them about the Lord their God from the time they awake, all throughout the day, until they go to bed (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). I have never heard a Scriptural argument which demonstrates that this responsibility is transferable to others; therefore, I conclude that it is an immutable parental responsibility.

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Once parents know and accept that educating and discipling children is exclusively a parental responsibility, then we can be confident that God will enable us to accomplish that which He has called us to do (Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 13:20-21, Exodus 4:11). If the paradigm of institutional schooling is our starting point, then there are many scenarios where we might conclude, “Not everyone can homeschool.” However, if we look outside the educationally ineffective schooling paradigms, the possibilities open up exponentially. Even scenarios where parents are no longer present or have abandoned children, others (specifically faith communities) can exercise pure religion (James 1:27) and fill the gap. ?

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The last reason I will expound in this short article is a conservative political principle. Every conservative person or organization that I know opposes forced redistribution of wealth. I believe this principle is also rooted in Scripture. The Bible clearly encourages VOLUNTARY benevolence (Proverbs 3:27-28, 28:27; Acts 2:44-45, 20:35) but not benevolence by compulsion. As it relates to school choice initiatives, everyone I have seen depends on compulsory (non-voluntary) taxation to benefit others, as the government determines. To quote Israel Wayne, “You cannot support school choice without first accepting the premise that we should have forced redistribution of wealth.” ?

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Those who would hope that I would support government (taxpayer) funded school choice initiatives hold out hope that government schooling systems can be brought back to an acceptable status, but I am not convinced that this is possible. Reformation is only possible if one assumes that the system was well-formed at one point in history, but I suggest that it was ill-formed from its inception. Many may acknowledge that home education is the idyllic option, but that they want to have something better than the worst options for other students whose parents are convinced that home education is not an option. Unfortunately, I believe the best they can expect is a slightly less depraved version of a system that has proved to be detrimental to a supermajority of students subjugated thereto.

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For these reasons, among others, I oppose government school choice programs.