Progressives Continue To Blame Homeschooling For Collapse Of Public Education

Just when you think things can't get any wackier, things get ... well, wackier.

An article came out this week entitled "Policymakers blame homeschools for the mass exodus from public schools." Yes, educrats are distressed that parents aren't pleased with public schools. Therefore, in the twisted logic of the district bureaucrats, it's the fault of homeschooling parents that public schools are failing so badly. If those awful parents didn't yank their kids out in droves ... why, those schools would be flourishing! Thriving! Booming!

Instead, districts are floundering. "If you were to drill down into the individual school districts," the article notes, "you would see an enrollment loss in specific schools anywhere between 20%-65%. Those numbers are unsustainable."

Yet if public schools were teaching to high standards of academic excellence, would parents be so eager to remove their children?

Meanwhile, here are three articles I plucked off the internet in the span of five minutes, literally without even searching. These illustrate some of the reasons parents are disgusted with what schools are shoving down their kids' throats:

School children told to "declare independence" ... from parents: "A government schoolteacher in Maine asked students to confess their 'unconscious biases' and gave a homework assignment asking them to write a 'Declaration of Independence' from 'something problematic' in their lives such as ... parents." (Ironically, the one word that was banned from these declarations of independence was "school." And yet homeschoolers are to blame for failing schools.)

Declining academic standards mixed with DEI is a recipe for disaster: "The continued embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM combined with a broad decline in academic standards is producing a generation of scientists who are less capable than their predecessors. ... From easier math classes in high school to the elimination of standardized tests to extreme grade-inflation to DEI tropes that elevate lived experiences and ways of knowing over facts and data, the trend represents a pressing problem for science professors working to protect STEM and preserve its standards and meritocracy." (And yet homeschoolers are to blame for failing schools.)

Segregation by any other name: "School segregation has risen from the grave - disguised under a different name. An increasing number of school districts are offering 'affinity classes' that cater to specific racial groups. ... In reality, 'affinity' is just a newfangled term for 'segregation.' Schools that support such racial sorting insist these classes are opt-in, benign programs that don't violate anti-discrimination laws or the Constitution's equal protection guarantee. They're wrong." (And yet homeschoolers are to blame for failing schools.)

Unsurprisingly, the leftist lapdogs are taking notice and demanding more oversight of homeschoolers. An opinion piece in The Washington Post laments, "Where there's no oversight, there's no guarantee that children will learn skills considered foundational in public education and essential to adult life."

This comment would be hilarious if it weren't so serious. Really? Is teaching children that they're the wrong gender or making them suicidal from "climate anxiety" essential skills for adult life? Is the obsession with sexual perversion and pornography a life skill?

"Many public schools are making the exact point, only in reverse," podcaster Dean Bowen notes. "Where there is government oversight, there is no guarantee that children will learn skills considered foundational and essential to adult life. Some would say where there is government oversight, there is a guarantee that the children will not learn those skills. Parents who love their children are going to be sure their kids have the skills necessary to live a full life."

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Or, as one person put it, "It's all the parents' fault! They want their children to be able to read, write and do math! How selfish of them!"

Ryan Walters, formerly a popular high-school teacher and now the elected superintendent of Oklahoma schools - in other words, someone who has seen the entire school system from the inside - has become one of its biggest critics. Since taking office last year, Walters "labeled teachers unions as terrorist organizations and said that radical leftists have turned schools into an 'Epstein island' of sexual predators, as he has waged a verbal war against what he sees as a dangerous 'woke ideology' infecting public education."

I hardly need remind you that, once upon a time, the American educational system was the envy of the world. The massive transformation and subsequent decline started in the 1960s; but in the last 10 years, quality has fallen off a cliff. Why? Because the extreme leftists have seized absolute control and blatantly admitted they're indoctrinating, not educating.

But it wasn't until the pandemic lockdowns that many parents finally woke up. Actually seeing what their kids were being spoon-fed was horrifying - and millions seized upon the opportunity to do a better job by educating their children at home. Now the left is desperate to stem the time.

The one thing the left fears above all is losing their control of the next generation. To that end, they would forbid homeschooling if they had their druthers. Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Bartholet flat-out called for a presumptive ban on homeschooling, because - well, because she says so.

Having made the mistake of not making homeschooling illegal from the get-go, the left is taking the back-door approach by making homeschooling difficult through increased regulations and oversight. In the more restrictive states such as New York and Massachusetts, many parents simply up and move to a friendlier state so they can educate their children without nosey school districts breathing down their neck.

To all you clueless educrats, try to wrap your mind around this simple concept: PARENTS DON'T LIKE WHAT YOU'RE TEACHING. That's why they're yanking their kids out of your indoctrination centers. If schools are failing, it's your fault.

This is why educrats fight tooth and nail against school choice. Monopolies hate competition, which implies accountability. Above all, they don't want to be accountable for their rampant failures to educate.

And so homeschooling will increasingly come into the crosshairs by hostile authorities. Homeschools will be blamed for everything from the decline of public schools to dust bunnies under the bed. Parents, you've been warned.

Originally published at WND News Center