Homeschool Heartbeat Radio Program

As a home school family, does the thought of free certified teacher assistants in those hard-to-teach subjects sound enticing, Mike Farris, president of Home School Legal Defense Association, discusses the dangers of public school outreach programs today on Home School Heartbeat.

As the home schooling movement pushes past 1.5 million students, public schools are beginning to realize the financial potential of luring home schoolers back under their control. Public school outreach programs and charter schools have been cleverly packaged to appeal to the insecurities that some home schoolers face, such as assistance with difficult subjects, computer support, access to standardized testing and curriculum organization just to name a few.


These “outreach” programs are state run and state funded. And, although they may appear innocent on the surface, there’s usually a catch. Those public charter schools offering reimbursement for curriculum may not tell you that you can not use curriculum that teaches religion.


Because of the dangers of becoming involved in these programs, Home School Legal Defense Association has adopted a policy to deny membership to any family involved in a public school outreach program or a publicly funded charter school that exerts primary control over their child’s education. If the line between home schools and public schools is blurred, it will become increasingly difficult to find the legal grounds to defend families who sincerely desire to oversee their children’s education. No amount of service you receive from the public schools is worth losing your freedom.


I’m Michael Farris.