{"id":2167,"date":"2013-01-28T08:10:25","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T15:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billintheblank\/?p=2167"},"modified":"2013-02-07T16:11:10","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T23:11:10","slug":"school-choice-week-why-homeschool-is-the-best-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2013\/01\/school-choice-week-why-homeschool-is-the-best-school\/","title":{"rendered":"School Choice Week: Why Homeschool Is the Best School"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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National School Choice Week<\/a> 2013, which runs from Jan. 27 through Feb. 2, shines a spotlight on the need for education opportunities for all. In only its third year, this bipartisan, grassroots effort features more than 3,500 events spanning all 50 states. <\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a guest post from Steven Horwich, teacher, writer, director, and founder of Connect the Thoughts<\/a>, providing resources and training for homeschooling.\u00a0You can follow him on Twitter @Homeschoolcurr<\/a>\u00a0and Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is a great deal of discussion today about school choice.\u00a0 I would like to suggest to you that schooling is not much of a choice at all.\u00a0 There is a better educational option you can take for your family, for your children.<\/p>\n

That would be homeschooling.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I offer this to you as a teacher with 40 years experience who has worked in public schools (1 year \u2013 all I could stand), colleges (2 years), private schools (over 10 years), private workshops, and finally homeschooling (the last 10 years plus).<\/p>\n

The High Cost of Schools<\/h3>\n

The woes of public schooling are well-documented, but please apply most of what you are about to read to private schools as well.\u00a0 Most private schools use the same methods, and often the same books, as public schools. Their results are similar.\u00a0 And private schooling is very expensive.<\/p>\n

The drop-out rate for public schools is astronomical \u2013 over 50% in many large cities.\u00a0 The low level of education provided in schools is legendary now.\u00a0 Functional literacy in the U.S. has been in dramatic decline for decades.\u00a0 Test scores continue to decline year after year \u2013 even using the tests designed by and for public schools, and built around their own curriculum!<\/p>\n

The cost of public schooling to the nation is crippling.\u00a0 The average student costs taxpayers between $12,500 \u2013 $27,000, depending on the school district.\u00a0 And those allegedly underpaid teachers make, on average, between 2-3 times what the average working Joe makes \u2014 for 9 months of work a year.<\/p>\n

Beyond the Obvious Concerns<\/h3>\n

But there are\u00a0many problems that are not often discussed.\u00a0 Per a Department of Education\u2019s 2004 report, between 6-10% of all<\/em> students will be sexually abused (physically or verbally) by teachers or staff during the student\u2019s time in public school.\u00a0 That\u2019s millions<\/em> of students.\u00a0 Most such abuses never get reported.\u00a0 After all, who will believe a child over a teacher?<\/p>\n

Abusers count on this silence, as well as the fact that teacher unions spend upward of $500,000 a piece to protect abusers who are brought to court.\u00a0\u00a0 Most school districts will quietly move the abusing teacher to another campus to avoid incurring the cost of prosecution. And the tidal wave of bullying and other forms of abuse experienced by children in schools is monstrous.<\/p>\n

A parent\u2019s first job is to keep their children safe<\/em>.\u00a0 Everything else follows safety, of necessity.\u00a0 A child learns nothing from an environment of threat, except fear.<\/p>\n

Faulty Methods<\/h3>\n

Often the methodology of schooling<\/em> is subtly destructive to families and students.<\/p>\n