Talk:Homeschooling in the United States

Advocacy groups
I added advocacy groups because I think it is a big part of knowing about and protecting the legality of homeschooling. I don't think I'll say too much about it on this page though but will check out HSLDA page. Anyone else know of any more groups to add? Lrldcs 15:57, 22 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your contributions, they are greatly appreciated. This article has only recently been spun off into a stand-alone article. Before this happened, there was quite a bit of debate over the appropriateness of external links or references to advocacy groups and commercial groups that support the homeschooling community. These types of links tend to give the impression that Wikipedia and its editors are supporting or advocating these organizations and the effort they represent. This goes against the WP:NPOV policy. Before putting much more effort into finding and adding these links, a more constructive (and less controversial) effort might be to research the information on these advocacy group websites and incorporate that info into the article itself. Keep track of where you found things and cite your sources. On a lighter note, a Wikipedia:WikiProject Alternative education has been organized for the improvement of this, as well as many others, in the area of alternative education and homeschooling. If you are interested in participating, please visit the project page for more info. Thanks, Master Scott Hall | Talk 18:13, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

California Homeschooling Ban
I think this page should talk about the court decision that came down this week that said homeschooling is illegal in California except with a teaching license. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mos bratrud (talk • contribs) 05:01, 9 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I think it should be noted that the case was closed in both the trial and the appeal. The defendant was represented by a public defender (not an expert in Homeschooling law) and it was only after it was decided did the Homeschool community learn about it, when the justices decided to publish it (i.e., made it both public and generally applicable).  The trail case was *not* about Homeschooling, it was a side issue,  I believe it came up in the resulting court orders. I think it should be emphasized that the decision is vacated while being reheard. 75.210.246.130 (talk) 17:41, 3 June 2008 (UTC)


 * As someone recently deleted the California homeschooling court decision, I thought I'd make a few remarks. They unidentified user said the case was misleading, but as of yet has not explained what is misleading about information. There has never been a supreme court battle over homeschooling specifically, and I think the information is very relevant in consideration how law is typically advocated in the US. Typically a state will decide in favor of certain regulation or oversight, and then if that state is successful in passing the legislature more states will then pay the heavy prices of court appointed lawyers and lobbyists to push legislature through community campaign's and state courts. The case is significant in that California happens to be a very influential state when it comes to this kind of law making. Federal copyright law, and National auto-emission standards were both spear-headed by state law cases that were first decided in California. The state has a long history of setting state regulation that then is adopted by other states and often becomes federal law, so the case information's inclusion is very important for people who are wondering about the 'legality' of homeschooling within the US.--Sparkygravity (talk) 03:22, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

UN
I would love to remove the section on the UN. This goes around on homeschooling listservs periodically, as a kind of "aaa, the black helicopters" glurge, but it refers to a document that the US has not ratified, and is not going to ratify, so I don't see why it should be in this article. Cf. WP:CRYSTAL. Ethan Mitchell (talk) 10:58, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

It is rather remarkable that only the US and and the pseudo-state of Somalia have failed to ratify the treaty. And how can we be sure that as the US-as it moves to the left-will never ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child? It's like assuming that the US's unique commitments to free speech and the right to bear arms will remain forever secure. Quite naive, I think. Falange (talk) 23:12, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Seems to me that moving this information out of the public eye would be the best way to begin to move toward ratifying same. 68.99.175.33 (talk) 07:09, 17 September 2013 (UTC)

Virginia
There was nothing from the East Coast in the "Examples" section, so it seemed right to add the policies and the implications. It was also neat to learn how Virginia is the only state that makes a legal provision for religious exemption. My research into the matter also made me understand what they mean when I hear that the percentages of parents of homeschoolers that are highly educated is greater than that of the general population. They have to be in order to even qualify. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jaxy2011 (talk • contribs) 19:02, 23 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Awesome personally I'd love to have all 50 states and their requirements listed, as it's an important factor when law makers approach new legislature, for their state. Also, it's fairly common for U.S. families to move between states, due to personal or job requirements.--Sparkygravity (talk) 00:47, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

I made some changes to the end of the statement on Virginia, since a few of the facts were misstated in such a way as to lead to incorrect assumptions. It would be great to see statements for all 50 states.108.26.85.135 (talk) 02:45, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

new section on homeschool performance in standardized tests
shouldn't there be a section on homeschooler's performance on standardized tests compared to students from public, private and christian schools? William Turns (talk) 12:15, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

That information can be found here: https://www.nheri.org/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.167.152.176 (talk) 14:52, 10 July 2019 (UTC)

Stance of Agencies in Federal Government
The article seems to only consider the opinion of the Supreme Court and the states as having weight or merit mention, but there are varying stances adopted by representatives of different agencies that I think should be mentioned. One, of course, would be the recent position held by the DoJ of homeschooling not being a fundamental right. Another would be that put forth by the DoDEA, which says, "“It is DoDEA policy neither to encourage nor discourage DoD sponsors from home schooling their minor dependents. DoDEA recognizes that home schooling is a sponsor’s right and can be a legitimate alternative form of education for the sponsor’s dependents.” My source can be found here: http://www.shopmyexchange.com/Community/Homeschooling/. Unfortunately, the link in the article is broken as it appears that the original pdf was pulled. Considering that this is essentially a statement from the federal government recognizing the right of a member of the U.S. military to choose to homeschool, I am not surprised that it was removed from display. The DoD official stance at that time, therefore, was that homeschooling is indeed a fundamental right. How is that a right for members of the military, but not private citizens? Seems like somebody is trying to get their ducks all in a row on this, and I think this information should be included in this article. Infinityseed (talk) 07:27, 17 September 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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Page Needs Updating
As can be seen in the edit log, this page was written in 2008, and it shows. A lot of the information isn't exactly relevant anymore. Help fixing it up would be greatly appreciated. Ejkrause (talk) 02:49, 30 December 2020 (UTC)


 * I am concerned about the lack of any section on this page related to the associated negative consequences of such a deregulated environment of education. For example the lack of any standardized learning objectives or oversight regarding the attainment of educational goals, as well as the manner in which unregulated homeschooling has been used to facilitate child abuse in the US. I also think more information on the HSLDA and their right-wing, Christian fundamentalist lobbying efforts would provide context to this topic and to how the US became such an educational free-for-all. Mplsneuro (talk) 01:10, 25 April 2024 (UTC)